


Life is Better from a Distance

by Lola_Barton123



Series: I see better from a Distance [1]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Gen, Humor, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Torture, Movie Reference
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-22
Updated: 2017-03-19
Packaged: 2018-02-09 22:24:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 25,947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2000184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lola_Barton123/pseuds/Lola_Barton123
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clint Barton is one of the best agents at SHIELD. He's latest mission makes him think about how he's lived his life. Will he find that helping Steve adapt to the 21st century made him a better person, or worse?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Life as is

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first story EVER hope everyone likes it. See ending for more notes

 "Barton report."

 

"Well the group seems to be protesting peacefully and I haven't seen the target yet so it seems to be good."

 

"Okay keep me as posted as possible."

 

Clint Barton, agent of SHIELD and the greatest aim the world had ever seen, smirked. His handler Agent Phil Coulson was going to get more than he asked for when he asked to stay in the loop. "Well sir," he spoke, " it seems that one man in the crowd has gotten frustrated, mind you he isn't the thinnest man in the world, and he has taken his shirt off and threw it at the doors of the building."

 

"Really Barton?" Clint could hear the smirk in Coulson's voice.

 

"Oh wow, it seems the fat man has taken off the rest of his clothes and is running back and forth in front of the building causing more havoc. You go fat man! You go!!"

 

"HAWKEYE! I really do not enjoy the commentary! Keep your mind on the mission and you can get out of whatever shit hole of a country you're in, do you copy?"

 

Clint laughed outright, "Sir yes sir." Clint noticed something in the corner of his vision, he whipped his head around and noticed the target slipping through the crowd mostly clothed. "Target acquired, may I disengage?"

 

"Yes Hawkeye, the minute you get a shot take it and get the hell out."

 

Graceful as a panther agent Barton went from his normal cocky self to the infamous Hawkeye. In the same moment he clicked his bow opened and checked to make sure it was fully charged. Everything next happened in mere seconds, using the remote embedded in the grip of his bow he picked the sniper head for an arrow and notched the arrow.

 

He got into a kneeling postion on top of the building he was using as his latest nest and zoomed in on the target, he had gotten to the crosswalk and was waiting for the lights to change. Hawkeye smirked, they never knew what was coming, his strange green/blue eyes seemed to look through the target into the cafe across the street, and to the amount of people who would notice/watch the man's death. Everything seemed to slow as Hawkeye concentrated, his breathing slowed, and his organs seemed to stutter a bit. He finally shot and turned around to pack up the few things he had with him to bring back to SHIELD, he didn't need to look to know that he had hit his target, not that he ever missed, but he used the few seconds to disappear into the crowd to the nearest extraction point so he could get the hell home.

 

The 15 hour flight gave him enough time to change clothes and take a quick nap before he started to get antsy. He hated airplanes, they made him feel like a caged animal, not being able to move freely and feel the wind on his skin. Clint sighed and went to his bow, cleaning weapons kept him calm and he needed that clarity to stay sane. He cleaned his bow, checked the sight, even cleaned the knives and the gun hidden on his person. He didn't ALWAYS use a bow, even though he wished he could, but some enemies are harder to hit then others. When he finished he looked out the window and let his mind wander to Natasha, Agent Natasha Romanov, his partner, his friend, they hadn't been on a mission together in months and he missed her. Not that he was in love with her, she was almost his only family, the only person whose childhood beat his by a landslide, that childhood that had made a little ballet loving girl into a cold-blooded assassin. With his thoughts on his family, Phil and Natasha he was able to make it through the flight without scaring or permanently, mentally, scarring any flight attendants on the jet that SHIELD owned.

 

He grabbed his bag and hopped out of the plane and into a flash of red, he laughed and caught Natasha glaring at him, daring him to make a comment on running into her. "I've missed you tasha," he smirked and winked.

 

She used her version of a smile to show she wasn't angry and spoke, "Agent Coulson wants you to debrief with him as soon as we get into the building."

 

He groaned, he hated debriefings or paperwork of any kind, he slowly sulked towards the helicarrier doors behind Natasha thinking after he was done he might be able to eat and maybe take a shower before going to sleep and the range afterwards...


	2. Changes that come

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> debriefings always suck.

The minute Clint Barton walked into Coulson's office he knew he was in a deep hole that slowly was becoming his grave. “Agent Barton please sit,” when Coulson called him that he stiffened and then relaxed, he wasn't a ranger anymore, he wasn't in THAT much trouble...  
“You wanted to see me sir?” Clint lowered himself into a chair after doing a quick room check with his eyes. He was tired, hot, and grimy, Clint didn't understand why the debrief was so soon after the mission, he usually at least got 6 hours for sleep and food.

“Yes Agent, as you are aware, we have been tracking your target for months and you finished the job faster then a junior agent working on paperwork for Fury. But that isn't why your here, you and Natasha are the best agents we have and without you both we wouldn't have gone so far...”

Clint was really confused and backtracked, Coulson never talked about past missions and his time before SHIELD so something must be going on, he would never get this up tight about anything.

“Barton have you ever heard of Captain America?”

“Kind of sir, wasn't he a hero of WWII? We lost him to the ocean, along with a cube of immense possibilities.”

“Yes. No. Kind of. That's not the point you HAVE heard of him so that's good, we have another mission for you.”

Clint Barton, the man with the quickest comebacks at SHIELD was speechless, no one EVER got back to back missions this soon, they got at least 36 hours before they were sent back out into the world. But less then an hour back on base and he already had ANOTHER mission. He started to sputter but no words escaped his mouth and he looked at Coulson for any hint of a joke. He finally spoke, “What is this mission?”

“You will be helping the Captain adjust to the 21st century.”

“He's dead, why would I have to drag a corpse around New York City?”

Coulson handed him a manila folder, “In this folder is top secret information that can NOT be shown or told to anyone. Steve Rogers AKA Captain America is alive, Tony Stark while going on one of his crazy adventures, found not only Steve Rogers alive but he found the cube.”

Clint sat there and looked at Coulson, “Why me?”

“You are our best agent, you also successfully made the Black Widow a member of SHIELD. With skills of rehabilitation we hope that you can not only help Mr. Rogers cope with the lost of his past, but get him ready for his new future, hopefully he will become a member of SHIELD.”  


“How long before I leave?”

“Actually you have about 18 hours, you can sleep, shower, and catch up on information from the past, and from the present.”

“Natasha won't be happy about this...”

“She will be undercover with Mr. Stark as his assistant so don't worry, she's suppose to come in when we are finished.”  
Clint smirked, he hoped Nat wouldn't kill Stark as soon as the mission was finished, the man was famous for making an ass of himself.

Coulson almost reading his thoughts spoke, “Natasha won't kill him, she might maim him, but no, she can't kill him, that would be a HUGE lawsuit.”

They laughed as though they were just old friends, “ Anything else Phil?”

Phil turned back into the Agent he was,“That it a negative Agent you are dismissed see you on the tarmac in 1800 hours.”

Clint Barton stood and opened the door, not surprised that Nat was right there. A quick head movement to show they saw each other, and then she sat down in the recently emptied chair, and Clint let the door shut tight behind him. 

A sigh came from deep within his chest and he slid down the wall into a kneeling position. Only when he was alone would he let the world crash down over him like it was, he couldn't pull himself together as quickly as usual and knew that it was time for him to sleep. He pulled himself upright, and walked to the housing area of SHIELD and went to the room he called his own. Taking a shower helped ease his muscles and lock away the memories of his last mission. Remembering dead people was not something that was encouraged for agents of SHIELD, the agency had lost many people to old memories. Slipping out of the shower into a pair of sleep pants, he checked the room for intruders, and any new weaknesses that had shown up when he was gone. Happy with his room Clint went to his bed and let himself slip into subconsciousness.


	3. Memories Unwanted

_Gunshots rang out in the darkness, flashes of gun powder appearing around the vicinity. Running, running, somewhere. Anywhere. Gun in hand Clint started to run towards Natasha's room to see if she was okay, bad idea considering she was a trained assassin but she was the only family he had left. The endless hallways would mess anyone up even if they knew where they were going, he swore and felt along the wall towards the closest brush of air, jumped up and grabbed a hidden handle, (the only people who knew he installed it were Natasha and Coulson). Clint swung his body until his feet came over his head and slipped into the vent above him, letting go of the handle the rest of his body followed his feet. The emergency lights switched on, tiny orange beacons coming from under him, “finally”he muttered, quickly he started the familiar trek to Nat's room and hoped he got there in time. Reaching her hallway he looked down and jumped, gun at the ready, landing lightly he shot at a masked agent with a hydra emblem on his forearm. The agent dropped and Clint typed his pass code into Nat's wall pad, the door slid open and Clint rushed in. He dropped to his knees, anyone he had ever loved was dead in her room, Barney, Phil, Kate, Nat, hell even Fury and the girl he had a crush on in kindergarten. He looked up into a barrel of a gun._

 

******

Clint Barton woke with a start clutching the knife he kept under the pillow, he gasped for air in the stuffy room and looked around for any danger. He really hadn't woken up to nightmares like that in years, Life goes on... most of the time. The sheets were soaked in sweat and wrapped around his legs and waist like a straight jacket, he put the knife back and started to maneuver out of his bed and sheets, he stripped the bed and remade it. Looking at the clock he noted the time, 10 hours until pick-up, not only that but he had gotten 8 hours of sleep, the last time that happened he had been on the good pain killers in Medical. He turned on the lights, showered, got dressed, and sadly started researching the major things he would have to tell the Captain.

Nat came to get him 2 hours later and he happily agreed to go with her to the training rooms SHIELD had at the base. He went over to the small closet in the corner of his room and tapped the wall next to it, a rack slid out of the wall holding his bow and other types of weapons he didn't want touched. Nat sat on his bed and waited while he started pulling practice arrows and his bow out of the panel. 

She finally spoke, cutting the silence like skin, “Alright what is wrong, you're acting like an abused puppy.”

He shut the panel with a click and turned around, “I had the dream again.”

If Clint hadn't known Natasha he wouldn't have noticed the slight twitch her jaw made. “The same as it always is or did it change?”

“Same, I haven't had the dreams sin-”

“Well that really doesn't matter, what matters is that it wasn't real, let's go before I get old and cranky.”

“Nat you're always cranky,” he smirked and started to walk out the door. She didn't enjoy talking about his dreams, he could tell she was immensely bothered, but let it slide.

“You're lucky I wouldn't have a sparring partner if I killed you, "You know I would, IF you were a different agent,” her lip twitched and he knew she was having a little fun.

 

*****

 

Clint grunted as he was tossed onto the floor AGAIN, Nat dusted off her hands and watched him, “You're getting slow Barton let's try this again. She was showing him some new moves that he could use in the future and it wasn't going so well, he know she was trying but she wasn't always patient and could get frustrated. He jumped up and she started to circle him, he looked for a weak spot, Clint slowly started to move in tune with her. Finally seeing one he lunged going for a muscle in her forearm, she pushed him back and tried a roundhouse kick barely missing his nose by centimeters. Doing a quick back flip to get more space he was thankful that his time in the circus wasn't going to waste. Sticking the landing and going into a closed stance, he watched her, the only way to beat her was by the element of surprise so he internally kicked himself and ran at her. When he got close she grabbed his arm and started to throw him over her back, quickly he moved his hand down her wrist and waited until he was level with her legs and threw his body feet first and let go of her wrist. Clint slipped through her legs, (that she had locked to help her ease his weight over her back,) and back to the font of her body and took her down with a kick to her shins.

The crowd of agents that had accumulated throughout the workout went wild, they enjoyed watching Clint and Natasha fighting, even more when Clint won, seeing that it didn't happen often. He helped Nat up and she looked at him. “Where did you learn that move?”

“YouTube.”

Her eyebrow quirked,“Nice work, I need to talk to Coulson, so go do some archery for your fans.”

He snorted but did as he was told, he walked over to the range and started to work with baseball sized targets, the world slowed down and he fired 7 arrows hitting the targets so hard they slammed into the wall. He practice for another hour and went to find Natasha, he had 5 hours left so he wanted to eat dinner with her and Phil. He went to the mess hall and grabbed a box of pizza, a large black coffee, water, and milk. When he was on a mission or even hours before it started he wouldn't drink anything but water and milk. Clint made it to Phil's office and knocked with his knee, Nat opened the door and motioned him in, Phil was on the phone so he waited. 

They ate and laughed like old friends until he had an hour left, he slowly got up and said goodbye to Phil and looked at Nat, he finally got to see her and then he had to leave, waving goodbye he walked to his room. Grabbing his bow case he put his bow inside with extra string, batteries, and oil. Going to the panel he tapped and grabbed his quiver with a box of extra heads and feathers. Putting them to the side he grabbed a black duffel bag from the closet and put his SHIELD uniform inside. Looking in his dresser he grabbed 4 pairs of jeans, a handful of socks, underwear, 6 shirts, and then went to his closet again and pushed aside a moving panel in back and grabbed his dress clothes. (He didn't want to admit he owned a monkey suit so out of sight out of mind), grabbing the 5 he had and all the dress shirts and ties he finished packing and dressed in one of the suits making sure that it somewhat matched. He grabbed his boots, sneakers, and slipped on his dress shoes. Making sure everything was together he went to the hanger and waited for further instructions. Jasper Sitwell walked up and handed him a fake identity, 10,000 in cash, passport, and some more information to read on the plane, nodding to Sitwell he walked to the jet and got in. It was going to be another LONG flight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own YouTube or anything that has a trademark.


	4. Experiencing the Unknown

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick question to any readers how do you post photos with the chapter? I have NO idea, Thanks for any readers, Comments are amazing!

When the plane landed Clint threw his duffel out the door and jumped after it, too impatient to wait for the stairs to come completely down. As he picked up his duffel a woman with dark hair and a clipboard came rushing over, her heels clicking on the tarmac.

 

“Hello Mr. Barton my name is Darcy Lewis I will be your assistant in this mission.”

 

“I wasn't told that I had an assistant.”

 

“Well as Director Fury put it, I wouldn't be more then a... tour guide.”

 

Clint snorted, Fury was right, unless it was Nat he wouldn’t give the women a second thought, she was quite pretty though...

 

“As I was saying, my job is to make sure you don't make a fool of yourself and to make sure you look more professional.”

 

“Professional?”

 

“Well,” she looked at the clipboard, “Mr. Clark Burns, Trauma and rehabilitation psychiatrist, you figure it out.”

 

It dawned him, “Your my secretary of sorts?”

 

“Well if you mean an intern of a scientist, and a master Taser wielder then yes, I am your secretary.”

 

They had started walking across the jet field towards the exit of the airport when Clint started to get curious, “Where are we going exactly?”

 

She laughed, “Curious for a spy huh? Anyway we are actually going to S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters in New Mexico where the Captain is being kept at the moment.”

 

“Why New Mexico and not Brooklyn where he grew up?”

 

Darcy got a real laugh out of Clint when she answered, “You've been doing your research, well in my opinion since he had been a Capsicle for 70 years they wanted to bring him somewhere warm.”

 

“Well that's true” Clint said after he had stopped laughing, “ Where's the car exactly?”

 

“Do you seriously think that S.H.I.E.L.D. gave me a car? Nope, we have my friend Jane's science van.” They stopped in front of a grayish van with a satellite and other science stuff on the outside. Clint and Darcy got into the van and he saw more stuff that he didn't even have a name for. “Welcome to my office _Mr. Burn's,_ now let's get moving before Jane noticed I took her van.” She pealed out of the parking spot and whipped into traffic. Clint was surprised that there was someone in the world who drove crazier then him, but he didn't say that to her in case she took it as a compliment.

 

“Wait, you stole her car?” He checked to make sure that his seat belt was still secure and wouldn't send him through the window.

 

“Not stole per-say more like borrowed without permission, I do that a lot though, so as long as I return what I borrowed she's okay with it.” She took her eyes off the road and he almost made a worried noise before he composed himself completely.

 

“Please keep your eyes on the road before I actually call this Jane person, who you obviously work for in some way.”

 

“I'm her intern and fine I will try to keep my eyes on the road”, she grumbled and then parked in a large spacious parking lot in front of the New Mexico S.H.I.E.L.D headquarters.

 

“Nice place”, Clint commented and got out of the van and shut the rusted door with a squeak. He straightened his suit and made sure that he had everything he needed. He waited for Darcy to catch up and they started walking towards the building. “So Darcy, where are we going inside HQ?”

“We need to go see Agent Neilson he's in charge of the New Mexico headquarters behind Director Fury and AD Hill.” They walked up to the front desk and Darcy flashed her S.H.I.E.L.D consultant badge. Clint reached into his pocket and grabbed his actual S.H.I.E.L.D badge and showed it to the receptionist and the guard. When they saw his name on the badge their eyes widened, and they let them through, no questions asked. Darcy smirked at Clint and used her badge to open the elevator and beckoned him in, the doors shut and she pushed the 79th floor button and they started their ascent.

 

“So Ms. Lewis, do you have a boyfriend? Husband? Partner?”

 

Darcy looked at Clint, eyebrow raised and took out her taser and pointed it at him, “AD Hill told me all about your antics Barton I am not a girl to be trifled with.” She put her taser back in her thigh holster under her skirt. Clint raised his eyebrows and just looked at her till the doors opened and another agent walked into the elevator. He waited until they walked out onto the 79th floor before speaking.

 

“So you had a taser under your skirt the whole time and I didn't even know about it? How do you hide it?” They walked towards the reception room for Agent Neilson.

 

“I threatened you with a taser and all you can think about is how I keep it hidden? You are an interesting man, I kind of like you, this is going to be an awesome mission.” They stopped in the reception room and Darcy spoke to the receptionist, “Ms. Lewis and Agent Barton for Mr. Neilson.”

 

The receptionist smiled, “Please wait over there he will be ready in a few minutes.” Clint and Darcy walked over and sat down in some chairs by the wall when Darcy started to laugh. Clint looked at her and waited until she stopped laughing.

 

“Why are you laughing? First you pull out a Taser with barely any prompting, and now the receptionist is looking at us like your crazy and I don't need to be associated with that, I'm already associated with Natasha and that wasn't always a great thing.”

 

She looked at him with a smirk and seemed to silently agree to not embarrass him anymore for the day. “Ms. Lewis, Mr. Barton? Mr. Neilson will see you now.” The receptionist spoke to them and smiled, they heard her heels click as she walked back to her desk.

 

“You ready BirdFace?”

 

“Really Darcy? You had to go there didn't you?”

 

“Does that hurt your feelings? Im sorry, what should I actually call you?”

 

“Well starting now Clark or Burns, Mr. Burns if you want to formal I guess.” He was hurt but he wasn't really in the mood to fight with her, so he let it go and they walked into the Agent Neilson's office.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Welcome Mr. Barton, Ms. Lewis, thanks for coming on such short notice Mr. Barton, I love your work. But let's get back to the mission at hand, welcome to New Mexico, Mr. Barton and thanks for your help Ms. Lewis. This is a very sensitive situation as you both know so utter discretion is required hopefully you can keep this under wraps. So, Steven Rogers AKA Captain America is alive, we have him under heavy sedation since he metabolizes drugs so quickly, until Mr. Barton/Mr. Burns was able come and be his anchor to this world. It will be tricky and it will be an ongoing mission until we are fully confident Mr. Rogers is able to capably survive in the 21st century. Mr. Barton do you have an idea in your head for ways to get him into the world quickly and easily?”

 

Clint shifted uncomfortably, “No, not really. I wanted to take this one day at a time because this is a very sensitive case to work with, even more so then Ms. Romanov. She was born in this century, I just had to teach her the way to be more _family friendly_ in a way that made her tolerate me, not rip my heart out of my chest.” Darcy snorted and pretended to write something on her clipboard, she was impressed with the way Clint could switch in and out of Agent mode quickly and efficiently, along with his ability to be courteous compared to his usual cocky self.

 

Agent Neilson looked at Clint, “I see, so when would you like to start? We have a room set up for Mr. Rogers so when he wakes up he won't be totally confused, we have it equipped with cameras hidden in the room though, it might look like it's from the 40's but its very high-tech.”

 

“Can we start today? I would like to get this started as quickly as possible, I was just wondering where I will be staying exactly?”  
  


“Well we have an apartment in city for you to share with Mr. Rogers so you can keep an eye on him, and get him adjusted to the city life that has been created over the years.” Clint stared at him, he usually stayed on base in the barracks or a crappy safe house, never an apartment especially one he had to share with CAPTAIN AMERICA, Darcy spoke up.

 

“That will be perfect is there anything else for Mr. Burns to have an idea about or is he going in blind? We don't want to lose an agent of his caliber because of a rookie mistake or crappy information about what we are up against.”

 

“He knows everything that he needs to know so if that is all Ms. Lewis, please go to the lobby desk and ask Mr. Jordansen to show you his helicopter that he got for his grandson, he will bring you to the place we are keeping the Captain, any other questions?” Agent Neilson stood up, Clint and Darcy stood up too, Agent Neilson shook their hands and showed them through the door. “Please talk to the receptionist she will get your things brought to the apartment and give you a ID and lanyard so you don't need to use your S.H.I.E.L.D cards in the public. Agent Neilson then shut the door and Clint and Darcy looked at each other.

 

“Well that was awkward,” she spoke, “Hopefully the Captain is smoking hot and my entire day wasn't completely ruined by this meeting.” They went to the receptionist and Clint handed over his things other then his briefcase, phone, and wallet.

 

Clint looked at Darcy, “Seriously that is all you can think about? That the Captain is hot? Not that we could get killed because of what we are getting into? You are one woman I would not mess with in a dark alley on a rainy night.” They walked down the hall back to the elevator before she spoke again.

 

“Well I'm single so, yes knowing that the Captain is smexy is my number one priority.” The elevator opened and they stepped in.

 

“I KNEW you were single, and smexy? What does that even mean?

 

“It's smoking and sexy mixed together it makes it easier for me to be unique.”

 

“Trust me Darcy you need no help on the unique end of life, maybe you should work on the social skills and not on the taser skills.”

 

“Please taser skills will get me farther then social skills and you know it's true, anyway a week from now I'm not going to be around, I'm helping Jane with her sciencey stuff like an hour from here in the desert some type of tornado I think. But good luck with the Captain, hey maybe he bats for the other team and you can finally find someone that completes you.”

 

“Thank you Darcy for the consideration,” The elevator doors dinged open and they stepped out, “But I highly doubt the Captain bats that way, I don't, but it was nice of you to think of me in your match making world.” She laughed and they walked over to the front desk and found Mr. Jordansen, he was the guard from earlier. Clint spoke, “Mr. Jordansen I was wondering if I could see the helicopter you got for your grandson.” The guards face went blank and he spoke to Clint and Darcy.

 

“Of course it's in my locker, come with me,” they walked across the main floor to a small janitors closet and Mr. Jordansen scanned his eye and beckoned them through the opened door.

They walked down a dark hallway to the next door where Mr. Jordansen used his fingerprint to open it, “Keep walking straight ahead, they're expecting you, and don't touch or look at anything your not suppose to.” He walked back the way they came and they watched the door click behind him.

 

They walked through the newly opened door and walked onto a overlook of a large parking garage space that was converted for a more specialized need then parking cars.

 

“Holy Shit.” That's what summed up exactly what they saw.

 

 

 

 


	5. Opening the Eyes of Innocent Men

They were ushered down a set of stairs by a set of scientists to a small office under the underlook and met a frazzled looking doctor. “Hello my name is Doctor Charles Hanson and I’m the lead scientist and doctor on this assignment with the Captain. As you both know the Captain is alive, but you're probably wondering why we are hiding in New Mexico. Well the Captain, has woken up before, about 2 weeks ago. We were at the New York Headquarters and he over reacted and was overwhelmed by the amount of change New York had undergone, we got him subdued and sent him down here. Thank goodness you wanted to start now, his body is metabolizing at a rapid rate and we learned that he needs more sedative with every dose because he’s been growing a tolerance to it. He would of woken up within the next 36 hours with or without the sedative and we don’t know what will happen this time he wakes up.

 

Clint spoke, “So you don’t know whether he would know what’s going on or that he would over react and break some stuff? Is that the reason the doors we walked through are a foot thick and made from titanium? Is that to keep the Captain in? I would think the walls would be the same also, am I correct?

 

“You are correct, we have no idea what he will do, your job is to keep him calm when he wakes up using any means necessary and your assistant Darcy can help you with whatever you need. After everything calms down, and he understands what happened completely, you take him discreetly into the city and get him settled into the apartment, take him shopping, out to eat, see a movie, do what you can, and to teach him about the 70 years he missed. You have to remember that even though he should be 97 years old, he’s only about your age Mr.Barton, he’s young and will do everything he can to get what he lost back.”

 

“So that means that he is smexy?”

 

“Darcy…” The doctor just stared at them.

 

“No Darcy you can’t date him, or tase him or use him in anyway not for America.”

 

“That is noooot fair.”

 

“If you two are finished the Captain should be taken off the sedatives now.” Darcy and Clint looked at Dr. Hanson and silently apologized, they all walked out of the office into the parking garage and towards the large square block in the middle of the room. Dr. Hanson opened a door on the block with a passkey and they walked into an operations room in front of a large one way mirror into a military/ jail looking room. The Captain was asleep on the cot in the corner, hooked up to monitors and sound asleep… for now. Dr. Hanson and a set of doctors went into the room through a hidden door on the right side of the window and started unhooking the Captain, Mr. Hanson looked up and spoke, his voice floated through the room speakers. “The minute we take out the IV with the sedative he will start waking up, we have maybe 2 minutes to get on that side of the glass.” The doctors removed everything but the IV they all walked out except Dr. Hanson. He put on gloves and quickly removed the IV, he put everything on a cart and quickly walked out. The minute he left the room the Captain started to come out of the sedative. The guards locked the door behind the doctor and Clint watched the Captain without even blinking. He had vetoed the 40's room considering how well it worked out last time, he wanted to see how the Captain would react.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Steve Rogers/ Captain America slowly opened his eyes and was overcome by dizziness and nausea, he jerked up off the cot and ran to the small toilet in the other corner and puked.

 

“The amount of time under the sedative has some negative effects and his body his trying to fix it. He really hasn’t eaten in 70 years, and the last month it was nutrients from an IV,” the doctor looked empathetic as he spoke.

 

Steve finished and flushed the toilet, he sat down and leaned against the wall, breathing heavily. The operating room staff sat silently and waited to see what would happen, Darcy looked like she wanted to leave and stop watching a man wallow in sorrow but she was staying with Clint. She looked at Clint and his eyes never strayed from the Captain.

 

“Creating a man crush Clint? Because you know I already have dibs.”

 

“Shut it Darcy.”

 

Steve looked up and finally took in his surroundings getting more and more anxious as time went on. He stood up and slowly walked around the room  checking for weak spots and noticed the shinier wall. It wasn't as dull as the rest of the room, and looked like a wall, but no wall he had ever seen, he tapped it and nothing happened other than a distinctive hollow noise.

 

Clint spoke, “Dr. Hanson is that glass safe?”

 

“Yes, and no, yes to a certain extent before the glass reaches its breaking point which may or may not be above the Captains strength.”

 

“Oh crap.”

 

The captain walked back a bit and got ready to punch the wall, he wound up and almost hit the window when Clint ran and pushed the speaker button, “Captain this is you Doctor, my name is Clark Burns, please do not hit the glass it’s expensive.”

 

Steve stood down immediately and looked at the glass, “My name is Steve, Mr. Burns I am not the Captain all the time, can you please tell me where I am?”

 

“You’re in New Mexico, and this is not HYDRA, it was destroyed when you went in to the ocean. Peggy and Howard finished them off and started S.H.I.E.L.D.”

 

“Where is Peggy? How long was I asleep?” Sadness flashed across Clint’s face before it went smooth again. He was glad that he had researched, but sad for what he had to do.

 

“Would you like to talk face to face? Or would you like to keep this conversation as it is?”

 

“I would like to meet my doctor Mr. Burns.” Clint let go off the speaker button and straightened his tie. Darcy looked at him and he shook his head, it would be safer if she stayed on this side of the glass. Clint opened up his briefcase and slipped out a dart gun, Dr. Hanson looked at him and shook his head, but he let him go. The guards opened up the door and let him in. The doctor knew Clint didn't need the sedative, but not everyone knew who Clark actually was.

 

Clint put his briefcase down by the door and walked up to the Captain, “Mr. Burns at your service Mr. Rogers.” Clint swore inwardly the Captain was TALL, Clint wasn’t super short but the Captain was a tower compared to him.

 

“Nice to meet you Mr. Burns, now will you please answer my questions?”

 

“As long as you promise not to come at me, alright?”

 

Steve looked confuse by the saying but nodded in agreement, “So what was it that you wanted to tell me?”

 

Clint sighed, “You might want to sit down for this Mr. Rogers.”

 

“I’m fine Mr. Burns what IS IT.”

 

“It’s 2011 Mr. Rogers, Howard is dead.”

 

Steve looked stunned, “and Peggy?”

 

“She’s alive, but shes not the girl you knew, she’s 97 years old, married, has children, grandchildren even, but she still is alive.”

  
Steve sat down heavily on the cot and looked at Clint with large watery baby blue eyes, “Oh my Gosh.”


	6. Time of Thought

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so there is an IMPLIED attempt at suicide, it OBVIOUSLY didn't work, but still, if it bothers you, don't read.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a Lord of the Rings reference in here, Thank you J.R.R Tolkien. I OWN NOTHING IN THIS STORY
> 
> Also to clarify Darcy hasn't seen Thor yet, but this is Darcy, a glowing Frisbee at night, is pretty much a UFO.

Clint looked at the Captain… Steve with sad eyes, “I’m sorry Mr. Rogers, is there anything I can do for you?”

Steve wiped under his eyes and looked up, his eyes betraying his actual age in the young body. “So we won?”

“Yes, and prospered ever since.” Clint walked over to his briefcase, picked it up and walked back to Steve, “Do you mind if I sit down?”

“No, go on ahead.”

Clint sat down next to him, the cot made an audible creak. He opened his briefcase and grabbed a box of tissues and a manila folder with pictures of Steve’s team since the war as well as Howard’s life and Peggy’s. “Here, take this, it has some answers for you, it might even bring more questions, I will try to answer to the best of my abilities.” 

Steve took the folder and slowly opened it. His eyes widened and he looked back at Clint.

“I also have the records of all of your old friends and colleagues if you wanted them later.”  
Steve thanked him and started to look at the photos and the dates written on the back along with the names. Clint knew by the end of the stack Steve would be distraught and tried to be a silent rock, but he wasn’t good with comforting people, well the whole people thing in general if you wanted to be specific, but he tried. 

Darcy watched from the other side of the glass with the scientists, she was impressed at how quickly Clint had calmed down the Captain. She turned to the head scientist and spoke, “Was the Captain very inconsolable when he woke up?”

The scientist raised an eyebrow, “What do you think? I mean we had to put him back under until you and Mr. Burns showed up.” 

“Are you saying the Captain was overwhelmed?”

“No, more like woke up fighting, he went down fighting in a war that is now over. Not that he actually knew that... he thought that we were after him... as in we were Nazi’s, it’s horrible to think about, but that is what he lived through before and we did not… factor that into the equation.”

“Is that why he isn’t in New York anymore?”

“Yes and No. Yes, New York had changed somewhat over the last 70 years, and No, we actually locked him in a Hulk cell but he wasn’t complainant.”

“What do you mean exactly?”  


“When humans are distraught Miss Lewis, they will do ANYTHING.”

Darcy’s eyes widened, “Do you mean what I think you mean?”

“That the Captain tried… Other methods to leave this world, yes.” 

She sat down in a chair and sighed, “Why must everyones heroes be human?”

“We don’t have an option in this world Miss Lewis, everyone is human.”

“That’s not true I’ve seen aliens.”

The scientist looked taken aback.

Darcy kept talking, “I wish that none of this had ever happened.”

“So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. There are other forces at work in this world, Darcy, besides the will of evil.”

Darcy looked at the scientist, “Did you seriously just quote J.R.R Tolkien to me?”

Clint walked into the room, “I believe he did, Gandalf the Grey actually.”

“Wow, do you think he was asking me out?”

Clint smirked, “You’ll have to ask him…”

The scientist blushed, “I’ll leave you guys to chat.” He rushed from the room.

Clint’s eyes twinkled, “Totally asked you out, if not madly in love with you.”

She rolled her eyes and smiled, “I might need a boy toy sometime soon.” She got quiet, and looked through the observation window and watched the captain. “How’s he doing? With all this information?”

Clint turned somber, “He’s very torn up, I left to give him some peace, told him to just call out if he needed me.” 

“The scientist told me something… That the Captain was VERY human.”

“Yes it was in my debrief.”

They stopped talking and watched the captain, his baby blue eyes were cast down and very clear. Tears were silently running down his face, tissues forgotten. He finished the file and started on the next one. “Do you really think giving him all of the files was a good idea Clint?” Darcy almost hissed at him. 

Clint looked taken aback, “Peggy’s and Howard’s are on the bottom,” he insisted.

“That is NOT a good thing,” Darcy stomped off and went to the door to the Captain’s cell, “LET ME IN NOW.” Surprised the guards let her in with no trouble. Clint just sat and watched, puzzled as she walked/stomped into the room. The captain looked up, his eyes huge with surprise, “GIVE ME THE REST OF THE FILES MR. ROGERS.” Confused he silently handed them to Darcy, no questions asked. The rage that had consumed Darcy turned into embarrassment, she blushed, “Thank you Mr. Rogers, for your cooperation.” He nodded silently and seemed to remember that he wasn’t talking to anyone but Clint and looked into his lap. Darcy rushed out of the room in a huff and walked into the observation room. “2 files a day, max.” 

Clint starting laughing, his body shaking with the force of his laughter, “Oh my gosh Darcy, you seriously scared CAPTAIN AMERICA.” She turned a bright red and smacked him.He got up and started walking out of the room, “Time to go CAPTAIN Darcy.”

All the scientists heard was a smack and laughter before the outside door closed them back in.


	7. Apparent Scenes

When they walked out into the bright light of the day Darcy spoke again, “Where do you want to go Barton?”

“Might as well go to this apartment that Fury has lined up.”

Darcy turned to Clint, “Okay sounds good lets get to the van.”

Clint grimaced, “How about I walk and you bring the van back to this Jane woman?”

“Do you even know where the apartment is?”

“Darcy it’s not THAT big of a town, its like 500 people, the SHIELD headquarters don’t count. It is almost all underground, seriously the 75th floor was UNDERGROUND, and everyone there doesn’t even live here. So I will be fine, if I get lost I can ask a civilian without getting stabbed Darcy. This place is definitely not New York.”

She looked at him for a few seconds, “No, I’m driving get in the damn van.”

He grumbled and stomped to the van, “Why can’t I drive?”

“Because it is not your van and I know where the apartment is.” They got into the van and put on their seatbelts.

“It’s not YOUR van.”

“Yeah it’s my bosses, but shes cool.”

“Fine.” They pealed out of the parking lot and across the street to a four story brick building and Darcy stomped on the brakes.

“Here we are!”

Clint unbuckled his seatbelt and looked at her, “You made me get into the van to get across the street?” He shook his head and got out, going to the back of the van and opening the doors. Grabbing his black duffel and throwing it over his shoulder, Clint shut the doors and looked at Darcy through his sunglasses. “So what floor?”

“4th floor, do you need help finding your apartment?”

He started walking towards the doors of the building shaking his head no, opening the door he was engulfed with cool air and the sense of warmth. “Oh wow, so far so good,” the lobby had the mailboxes and a few comfy chairs. Comfy rugs and bookshelves and lamps littered the lobby, in shades of yellows and browns. On the left was a staircase banister, balcony and all, in the far left corner was a hallway for 3 of the apartments. Darcy started for the stairs and Clint followed close behind. up to the next floor with another 3 apartments, the hallway the sames shades of yellow and brown as the lobby. The next floor held 2 apartments, and they trudged up the last flight of stairs. They made it to the small balcony in front of the only apartment on the floor before Darcy spoke.

“Here it is,” flourishing a key, Clint took without complaint and unlocked the door. He gasped and dropped his bag onto the cherry hardwood spread throughout the open floor plan. The apartment was very modern, Clint walked into the apartment and stepped onto a very fluffy rug in front of a nice couch and a huge tv. White seemed to be the color of choice as he looked at the walls that were covered in art. He stood up and walked towards the kitchen with a 3//4 wall with stools. Stainless steel, granite counters, and expensive tools, screamed wealth to Clint. He looked around, a table for 8 it was white (big surprise), and huge windows were evenly spaced throughout the guest area. Darcy started explaining the inner workings of the apartment to Clint, acting as though she owned the place, “4 bedrooms, 4½ bath, along with a connected dining, kitchen, foyer, and living room.” They started towards a door to the right of the kitchen, “here is the half bath,” she walked across a large hallway to the other side and opened a door, “panic room/ closet.” They stepped across the threshold to the hall and Clint saw 2 doors on each side of the hall with a huge window with a built in seat at the end. He could tell that there was an amazing view of the desert from where he stood. Darcy continued, “ The apartment is entirely furnished for you and the Captain,” She stopped at the first door on the left and opened it, “guest bedroom/ study for either you or Cap, every bedroom has a connecting bathroom, the room across the hall is the same.” Clint peeked into the room, it was a office with dark hardwood bookcases surrounding almost all the walls until the huge window behind the desk. The desk was the same rich hardwood and the chair looked quite comfortable.

Clint spoke, “So if I knew that Ca-.. Mr. Rogers liked to paint would the other office be more of a studio compared to an office?”

“Yep, Come look,” She walked across the hall and opened the door same window but the room was empty except a large cabinet for art supplies, a wall that quite a few canvases leaned against, and an easel in front of the window.”

“That’s amazing, So obviously this is his side of the hall? SHIELD knew I would pick the left side?”

“Well you're left handed so, yeah.”

“That’s bullshit but I want to see the bedrooms.”

Darcy shut the studio door and walked to the left side bedroom, “You know that bedrooms are EXACTLY the same?”  
She opened the door and beckoned him in. It was large spacious and bigger than several of his safe houses. Light gray walls and a king sized bed with a prussian blue bed set and furniture littered around the room in a cherry to match the floors. A dresser, 2 bedside tables with alarm clocks, and a large walk in closet next to the opened door of the bathroom that had the same color scheme. Clint walked over to the outside wall and looked out of one of the two windows and admired the landscape. Darcy went to the walk next to the bed and the outside wall and pushed lightly. A stand came out like the one at SHIELD and Clint smirked. He was really going to like it here.


	8. Moving With the Unknown

Clint walked back into the main room and went to the door to grab his bag, Darcy following close behind. “So what are we going to do now?”

He turned around with his bag and looked at Darcy,” I’m going to unpack and sleep, you wear me out.” He grabbed her by the arm and pushed her through the door, closing it and locking the deadbolt and the knob. He yawned and slid down the door, his duffel close to his chest, he was exhausted, he didn’t know why, he didn’t DO anything. His head knocked against the door when it was kicked by Darcy.

“Let me in Barton! Damn it!” Knocking and kicking ensued for another few minutes before she swore, “Dammit Clint, I’m leaving, see you tomorrow 8:00 sharp.” He heard her heels thump on the carpet as she walked downstairs.

He smirked and took out his phone and texted Darcy, _“See you tomorrow, if you left a mark on the door you get to fix it.”_ He clicked send and slipped his phone back into the suit he was wearing. Looking around he groaned, he really should check for any weak spots and fix them... maybe go to the hardware store he saw down the street… No, first thing first, weak spots, unpacking, then he could do some shopping, he could cook NOT that he would admit it. He slowly stood up hearing his knees crack, getting old was horrible. He quickly took off his suit jacket and walked towards his bedroom, duffel and jacket in hand he threw them on the bed to be organized at a later time. Clint grabbed a gun out of his duffel and slowly checked the perimeter of the the bedroom he secured it and walked to the adjoining bathroom, also clear. He walked out the door and into Steve’s bedroom. A replica of his bedroom and bathroom, also secure. Going through the rest of the apartment he saw it was secure. Slipping his gun into his waistband, Clint started towards the kitchen, opening the pantry again and noticed it was empty, as was the fridge/freezer (other then some ice from the machine). Going to all the bathrooms he noticed they were bare, not even toilet paper. He groaned, yep he would have to shop, he also noticed that the office and the studio were bare. Great, now he did have to go shopping, good thing SHIELD gave him a credit card…

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~**~*~*~*~~*  
Walking down mainstreet of the town he noticed two things, 1. they didn’t have a walmart or Target, 2. he didn’t have a way to get the stuff back to his apartment. Well he would figure something out. Noticing a small grocery store he walked in and grabbed a cart. Walking down the aisles, he tried to remember what he had read on Steve Rogers, _“After the serum Steve Rogers had an unimaginable appetite.”_ He swore and went to canned foods grabbing enough beans, corn, beets, tomatoes, soup, and pickles to fill up the entire bottom of his cart. Boxes of tea, a large bag of premium french roast coffee beans and laughed, SHIELD was going to regret feeding Steve. Clint grabbed a bag of flour, bag of sugar, container of baking soda, a container of every spice the store had. He went to the bread section and grabbed 4 loaves of whole wheat bread, and 4 bags of burger and hot dog buns. Bottles of Ketchup, mustard, syrup, and relish made their way into the cart. Jars of peanut butter, jam, and mayo joined the rest of the groceries in the cart. 10 boxes of different kinds of cereal were thrown in and Clint finally was able to leave the non perishable section. He went to the refrigerator and grabbed a gallon of milk, orange juice, 3 dozen eggs, and a container of cream cheese. He went and grabbed 10 yogurts, 5 bags of cheese, 3 packs of hotdogs, and 5 pounds of hamburger, some steak, 5 pounds of bacon and some deli meats for sandwiches. Finally he went to the vegetables and fruit and grabbed a bag of almonds, a big bag of apples, oranges, pears, and a watermelon. 5 heads of lettuce, 3 bags of carrots, 7 cucumbers, a bag of tomatoes, a bag of spinach and some dressings. Making his way across the store he went and grabbed enough shampoo, conditioner, liquid soap, deodorant and razors for all the bathrooms. He noticed they had a small kitchen wares section and grabbed towels for the kitchen, and big fluffy towels for the bathrooms. A broom, mop, dust pan, cleaner, a bucket, and a tea pot. Hefting a box of plates, dishes, and cups into the cart he continued to grab a container of protein, a box of ibuprofen, and a first aid kit. Finally making his way to the checkout section, he had filled 4 carts with food and other supplies (mostly food).

The woman at the checkout kept her surprise hidden well, if he wasn’t a trained assassin and spy he wouldn’t have noticed, he also wouldn’t have noticed how her eyes kept roaming as she checked him out ( he did notice, not that he cared). He had to have 4 different transactions because of all the food, he was just glad that the apartment had a HUGE pantry, freezer, and fridge. He talked to the manager and he agreed to let Clint take the 4 carts and 4 workers to get his stuff into the apartment, it helped him a lot and they all got tipped well when they left all the bag of groceries in the foyer area of the apartment. He liked living in a small town, the person wasn’t even worried about the carts or his workers, well Clint was still wearing his suit other than the jacket so maybe he looked more trustworthy to the manager, he didn’t know, and he started to put the perishables away. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Back outside Clint started walking the main street again, he had only put away what would rot and left the rest out till he got home. He wanted to enjoy the short time it was warm instead of roasting outside. He stopped outside a small art store and smiled, _The Captain would love to have some supplies._ Clint went into the store and was pummeled with the smell of oil paint and fresh paper. A young woman walked up to Clint and smiled, “How may I help you this evening?” 

“I’m not sure, my friend enjoys to draw, but maybe he likes to paint, the studio in my apartment have empty canvases, what should I get?” He was overwhelmed by the amount of supplies in the small store. She grabbed a cart and started to walk towards some paper, Clint looked at her curiously.

“Sketchbooks would be the best bet for you to get for this friend, probably charcoal and charcoal pencils, colored charcoal, nice erasers, and a sharpener.” He nodded and grabbed 2 of every sketchbook they had, a book of every kind of charcoal, an electric sharpener and a handheld one, a 90 pack of colored charcoal, 4 charcoal erasers, and a charcoal holder when the charcoal was too small to hold. She laughed, “Okay, are you sure you want to buy all of this?”

“Not a very avid saleswoman are you? But yes I am.”

She smiled and rang up all his art supplies. “Have a great day.”

“You too”, he walked out into the dusk, glad to inhale oxygen not car exhaust. He slowly walked back to the apartment and put everything away. Taking extra care to organize the art supplies for the captain (not that he would admit it). 

He finished and wanted to do something else, he went down to the lobby to explore and noticed they had a workout room, it was small but it had hand weights and cardio equipment. Running up the stairs he put on his workout clothes and grabbed his StarkPod, turning it to something peppy, he jumped on to the treadmill and tried to outrun his demons. 

After working out for an hour, he slowly walked up the stairs and walked into his kitchen. Clint hadn’t eaten anything all day but he really wasn’t hungry, so he grabbed a water and a granola bar, eating and drinking as he walked to his shower. After the shower he hopped on to the bed and almost moaned, it was one of the best beds ever, he was sooo going to take it with him after the mission was over. Grabbing his StarkTop from the bedside table he started writing a cost report, Coulson would have a farm when he saw the list, but Clint’s gut was telling him that getting that much food was a good idea. Finished with the report Clint emailed Nat, he didn’t expect a reply just making sure she knew someone was worried about her. They did that for each other, they were family. People might think they dated at SHIELD but they thought of each other as siblings would, maybe it was because she hadn’t killed him yet and they always sparred. No extreme bodily damage either, he smirked, no one got away with calling the Black Widow a bitch or a slut, the last agent who did had to get a new set of teeth after Nat took them out one, by, one. Hopefully she hadn’t killed Tony Stark yet, Clint really hadn’t even met Steve Rogers just a shell. She shouldn't have even had time to even sharpen a pencil for Stark yet. He put his StarkTop on the table and fell asleep quickly.


	9. Living for the Freedom

_Gunshots rang out in the darkness, flashes of gunpowder appearing around the vicinity. Running, running, somewhere. Anywhere. Gun in hand Clint started to run towards Natasha's room to see if she was okay, bad idea considering she was a trained assassin but she was the only family he had left. The endless hallways would mess anyone up even if they knew where they were going, he swore and felt along the wall towards the closest brush of air, jumped up and grabbed a hidden handle, (the only people who knew he installed it were Natasha and Coulson). Clint swung his body until his feet came over his head and slipped into the vent above him, letting go of the handle the rest of his body followed his feet. The emergency lights switched on, tiny orange beacons coming from under him, “finally”he muttered, quickly he started the familiar trek to Nat's room and hoped he got there in time. Reaching her hallway he looked down and jumped, gun at the ready, landing lightly he shot at a masked agent with a hydra emblem on his forearm. The agent dropped and Clint typed his pass code into Nat's wall pad, the door slid open and Clint rushed in. He dropped to his knees, anyone he had ever loved was dead in her room, Barney, Phil, Kate, Nat, hell even Fury and the girl he had a crush on in kindergarten. He looked up into a barrel of a gun. ___

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Thump.

Clint woke up with a gasp, he had fallen out of bed and onto the hardwood floor. Damn it, he had the stupid nightmare again. Slowly stretching his muscles and grabbing the blankets off the floor he looked at the clock on the bedside table, “3:05 am”, He started to grumble and cursed he had to wake up by 7 and he knew it would take him awhile to settle down enough to sleep. He wasn’t a great sleeper to begin with, but the nightmares were making his life a living Hell. He trudged to the bathroom, if he had to go back to bed might as well go to the bathroom so he wouldn’t wake up again. Washing his hands Clint happened to look up into the mirror, he looked like crap, big circles under his eyes, bruises from his last mission and from falling on the floor, honey brown hair in need of a cut, bloodshot breen (blue-green) eyes, and a bad case of 5 o’clock shadow. Shutting off the light and walking back into the bedroom he slipped back into the bed and closed his eyes knowing that it would be a long night…

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*  
“BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP”

A groan came from deep from Clint’s chest, a peek at the clock from his cocoon of blankets showed that it was 7 and he knew that it was time for him to join the real world. Slowly getting out of the bed, he walked into the bathroom took a shower, shaved and walked back into the bedroom. Looking at the clock and saw he had 45 minutes to get dressed and over to SHIELD headquarters. He walked to the closet and grabbed his light grey suit, a powder blue shirt, and a bright blue tie. Slipping on a pair of boxers and an undershirt, he turned and put on some deodorant. He shrugged into his dress shirt and dress pants, buttoning his shirt and fixing his tie, he almost didn’t look like Clint Barton, he looked like Mr. Clark Burns, physchatrist. He grabbed his briefcase, jacket and watch, making sure that he had his phone in his pocket. Looking at the watch, he had 15 minutes to prep for the day. Not that he was going to actually prep.

He laughed at himself and decided to go to the coffee shop he saw the day before. Grabbing his keys and making sure that he had everything with him and shut his door with a click. Light footed he walked down to the lobby and slipped on his sunglasses. Walking through the door and into the street he smirked, it was a nice day, not yet hot. Clint saw the small coffee shop across the street about a minute from the headquarters, at least he was getting a decent cup of coffee. Entering the store with a tinkle of a bell he smelled the comforting scent of caffeine. Walking up to the counter he order 3 large coffees, 1 with sugar and cream. Paying and getting his coffee in a to-go holder. Clint walked out into the sun and walked a block to the headquarters. 

Nodding his head at the guards, he walked over to the entrance to the observation room and scanned his key card. Going through the door down a short hallway, he scanned his eye after putting his sunglasses away. Stepping on the observation deck and looked at the people walking around the large room. Finally walking down the stairs and into the observation room, he handed the sugared coffee to Darcy and she smirked.

“8 o’clock sharp Burns, thanks for the coffee by the way.” She looked at the doctor who had spoken with her the day before and winked. He blushed and rushed away, “That doctor is too easy.” She stared at Clint over her coffee, “You ok Clark? you seem a little pale.”

Clint turned to look at Steve through the one way mirror. “Just a dream” He turned and went to the door to Steve’s cell. The Captain was sitting on his bed looking at his hands, the files Darcy allowed him were sitting neatly on the floor. He seemed surprised that the door was opened and Clint walked in.

“You’re here more then once, I see you don’t give up, not even on a waste like me.”

“You are not a waste!” Clint snarled at Steve. Big blue eyes stared at him, glazed as though he really wasn’t there. Clint cursed under his breath, the man looked worse then yesterday. Clearing his throat and fixing his tie he spoke “May I sit down Mr. Rogers?” 

“Do I have a choice?” Scooting over as he answered.

Clint sat down next to him and answered, “You always have a choice, just depends on where you can use it.”

Steve gave him a small smile, not close to reaching his eyes but a start, “So what are we doing today?”  
“Well first I’m giving you coffee, then you are going to take a shower and do what you have to do in the bathroom. Then we are going to the training rooms so I can monitor your strength and such.”

Steve took the coffee looking grateful, and took a sip, “You sure I can leave and work out? I mean aren’t I a prisoner of sorts?”

Clint shook his head, wishing he could be somewhere else, “Excuse my language Mr. Rogers but I don’t give a damn about what they think, you are my patient and what I say goes.” Grabbing the finished files and setting 2 new ones on the floor, Clint stood up and offered a hand to the Captain. Steve took his hand and got up, looking around and stretching sore muscles. “This way Mr. Rogers,” Clint walked ahead and opened the door, the head doctor was livid, “If you have a problem take it to Director Fury, I am more then willing to tell him you tried to stop me.” The doctor opened and closed his mouth, knowing he was beaten and let them through. 

By the time they made it to the lobby of the building Steve was laughing harder than was possible for a normal human. “Mr. Rogers are you alright?”

“I’m fine, I just didn’t think I was allowed out of that cell, or that you were such a badass AND a paper pusher.” He couldn’t stop laughing at the look on Clint’s face. 

“You’re Captain America. You swore. I just heard Captain America the purest man in America swear,” Steve kept laughing. Clint shook his head and beckoned Steve towards the elevators, Steve’s laughing stopped when the elevator doors opened and people spilled out. 

They walked in and Clint pushed the 30th floor button and the doors shut. “Mr. Burn’s are you sure this is safe?” The elevator started to descend and Steve grabbed for one of the railings on the wall and grabbed Clint’s shoulder by accident. Clint had to lock his knees and grab Steve’s shirt so that he wouldn’t knock him down. “S-sorry Mr. Burns I didn’t mean to land on you.”

Clint pushed him back upright and made sure he was holding the railing before he spoke, “No problem, I should have known that you would have a reaction to elevators.”

“How did I not hurt you? Even strong men would have fallen when I landed on them, are you super too?”

Clint fixed his suit, “No I’m nothing like that, I’ve seen a lot of things working as a psychiatrist for SHIELD.” The elevator dinged and the doors opened on to the Men's locker room. It was very nice for a locker room, lockers, actual soap, benches, and towels. “Come on Mr. Rogers,” Clint almost pushed him out of the elevator and moved towards a cabinet by the showers. Opening it up and smirking, it seemed all SHIELD locker rooms were generally the same. The cabinet was full of SHIELD regulated clothing, grabbing a pair of workout pants and sweatpants, hopefully they would fit Steve, along with an under armour like shirt, boxers, and a sweatshirt. “Here,” he threw the clothes at Steve and moved to the next cabinet grabbed a deodorant, shaving cream, shampoo, conditioner, and razors. Along with multiple towels and the toiletries he walked to Steve took the clothes and gave him the other items. “Shower, its a communal shower so, have fun, it’s empty now so you might want to hurry if you want to be modest. It’s usually never empty so it’s your lucky day.” Clint plopped down with the clothes in front of one of the lockers and ended the conversation. Steve looked at his clothing noticing that he was wearing paper thin clothing from medical. “Yeah you might want to get rid of those, there's a bin over by the showers.

“Thank you Mr. Burns,” he walked to the showers and put the items Clint gave him by the shower head he wanted and hung the towels on a hook. Clint tried to give him privacy, he tried, but the only thing he could do was turn around. Steve quickly showered and came out of the shower area and Clint didn’t turn just handed him the workout clothes and went back to playing with his phone. Putting them on, Steve was happy that the clothing actually fit without having to be tailored to fit him. Looking around he noticed that in the other corner was the stalls and urinals so he went over and shaved along with going to the bathroom, washing his hands Steve looked up at the mirror noticed that just because the world changed didn’t mean he did. Turning he walked back to Mr. Burn’s and waited for him to finish whatever he had in his hands.

Clint finished his last text to Natasha and slipped his phone into his pocket and stood up. “Hey give me a second I want to change too.” Clint went to the cabinet and grabbed workout clothes for himself and workout shoes for Steve and himself. He changed in the stall, he didn’t want Steve to find out he wasn’t a physiatrist,he was a field agent, the scars would be a big sign pointing at Clint being a liar. Coming out and folding his clothes and putting everything away in a locker everything but his phone and the StarkPod, “Come on let’s go.” 

“Do I have to go back into the elevator? They are officially not my favorite thing.”

Clint snorted, “Sure we can take the stairs, the gym is a floor down, it’s a nice warm up.” Going towards the exit sign by the elevator Clint opened the door and smiled, “Race you downstairs.” Clint shut the door and hopped the railings down two flight of stairs and landed outside the gym door and walked in. Steve walked in almost right after amazed that Mr. Burns had made it before him, well Mr. Burns had a head start. “Come on Cap the workout room waits for no one, come on I have to measure your speed and strength.” Steve walked up to Clint and let him strap the StarkPhone to his side and put sensory pads on his chest and head, along with a heart monitor. “Alright, hop onto a treadmill and go.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Okay that was amazing, you are one of the most… I don’t even have a word for you!” They were sitting in the Cafe, eating lunch and talking. Clint had bought Steve an actual outfit not from SHIELD, a pair of khaki shorts, and a nice plaid button down, he looked… normal.  
Steve laughed, it was very nice to be somewhere that seemed welcoming. But, all the machines, Howard must have gone crazy with his inventions after Steve disappeared. “Thank you.”

Clint stopped mid sentence and looked at him, “Thank you for making me feel normal, like I’m not some animal to be looked at.” 

“It’s really no problem you’re very fun to visit with, it’s enjoyable to see you look at everything I take for granted everyday”, Steve blushed slightly. “Okay stop it, I have something for you actually”, Clint pushed his forgotten food aside and brought out a package wrapped in brown paper and twine (courtesy of the woman at the art store). “It’s not much but it's not like you have something to do in the cell, and maybe it will be good for you to express memories or other things that seem to bother you.” Steve opened up the package and looked at Clint stunned.

“TH-Thank you Mr. Burns.”

“Call me Clark, I’m your friend.”

“Oh well thank you, no one really has done this for me before.”

“I also got some charcoal and erasers, I didn’t know what you use so…”

“No, this is more than enough.”

Clint smiled, it was a very good gift for the Captain, “Now if you’re done eating I think we should go back before we give Dr. Hanson an aneurysm.”

Clint walked the Captain back to the room Dr.Hanson staring daggers the entire time. Steve walked into the cell with his sketchbook tight to his chest and Clint threw a pair of pj’s at Steve and winked. “See you tomorrow Mr. Rogers get some sleep, tomorrow we get to do some actual work.”

Steve waved and Clint nodded to the doctors, leaving the building and putting on his sunglasses. He slowly walked home admiring the dusk warmth. Getting home and writing his report of the day Clint was way to tired to do anything but send a quick text to Natasha and burrowed back into his blankets falling asleep faster then after a 3 day mission with zero rest.


	10. Present the New Age

“BEEP, BEEP, BEEP!”

Clint’s hand shot out of the nest of blankets and slammed down on his StarkPhone, thank God that all Stark Tech was able to withstand almost everything but the Hulk. He rolled over and groaned, today was going to be more of a therapy session for Steve and Clint had no idea what he was doing in the first place, he had been to a therapist, but actually counseling a human being that wasn’t as messed up as Natasha was daunting. He slowly crawled out of his bed and made it, looking at the time he swore. It was 7:50, he had 10 minutes to get dressed and to SHIELD, Clint ran to the closet and grabbed the gray suit with a white shirt and a light lavender tie, he put on the pants and shirt but didn’t have enough time for the tie and jacket, grabbing his phone, watch, wallet, briefcase, and sunglasses, Clint ran out of his room, putting his shoes on the entire way to the lobby. He shoved his sunglasses on and walked out the door, almost jogging to make it on time, he whipped on the jacket and walked into the SHIELD building. Quickly walking across the granite floors he put on his tie, clipped on his badge, took off his sunglasses, and unlocked the door to the Observatory. He walked into the observation room right at 8 looking a bit frazzled but dressed. 

Darcy walked up and laughed, she dropped her clipboard and help him get out any wrinkles and straighten his suit. “Had a rough night Burns? Coming to work hungover isn’t something you should do.”

Clint rolled his eyes and let her fuss with his clothing, “No Darcy I don’t drink, I woke up a little late.” She looked at him and frowned, he didn’t look like he felt okay and she felt bad for him.

“Hey Burns look at me,” She had whipped concealer and other facial products out of a small purse slung over her shoulder, blending into her black skirt. He grimaced and whipped his head out of the way before she rubbed makeup on his face.

“What the hell Darcy?”

“You look like crap, let me do this, look more professional for Steve, come on, don’t be such a baby.” He looked at her, his breen eyes drilling into her face before he nodded and let her rub concealer on the bags under his eyes. Darcy stood back and tilted her head in thought while she looked at him and smiled, “Okay you look much better, should have shaved though.”

She handed him a compact mirror and Clint looked at his face, “Wow, okay you’re amazing Darcy, thank you,” he looked 100% better, other then yes he needed to shave. 

“Well since only one of us can see Mr.Rogers you might as well look breathtaking as you work with him.

He laughed at Darcy before his stomach grumbled loudly. She raised an eyebrow and looked at Clint,” What? I told you I woke up early, I’ll just take the Captain to the Cafeteria or something, I really do need some coffee though.” Clint looked up and saw that Steve was dressed in the clothes he had bought him and sketching furiously. “Has Steve eaten yet this morning?”

“No he refused what they tried to give him a tray when he woke up, but since he will only talk to you, he wrote them a very nice letter, even his writing is smexy FYI. But I think the letter said something like I will wait until Clark comes to get me. So I guess you left a mark on the Captain?”

“Shut up Darcy, I think it’s because I’m the only human here that doesn’t consider him a lab rat or a piece of meat. Plus I got him stuff, what did you do? Put a limit on his reading time? Yes, that’s exactly what you did, so shut it Darcy I have a long day.” He walked away from her and walked straight into Steve’s cell, startled Steve looked up breaking his pencil in the process. He blushed and looked at his pencil shards, “Don’t worry Steve I have more pencils.”

Steve stood up and brushed himself off before answering, “What are we doing today? Hopefully away from where Dr. Hanson can watch my every move. Almost turned red when he saw I had PJ’s and a sketchbook. Same with the clothes I was wearing, thanks again by the way, the clothing I was in before wasn’t the most waterproof.”

Clint looked at Steve and smiled, he was actually talking a lot, they were making great progress in the social skills. “Well let’s go and grab something to eat, yes I heard about the food mishap this morning, no problem, the crap they give you on trays is worse than the actual cafeteria food. We are actually going to a small park across town so you and I will have to change clothes, since I didn’t bring any and you have none we will have to go shopping for some clothes you like.”

“That’s not necessary, I don’t want you wasting all this time and money on me, I can live with SHIELD clothing and staying inside is okay too.”

“Stop it. Right now. We talked about this. I see you as a friend not a hero, and as your friend who gets paid to hang out with you, it is my duty to make sure you have proper clothing, and are eating something that doesn’t look like mush, live a little.”

Steve smiled, it was almost to his eyes, 3 days and Clint already had Steve talking to him. “Alright Mr. Rogers lets go,” They walked out and walked into the lobby and Clint let the hustle and bustle of people calm him before turning to Steve, “Hey you okay?”

Steve was looking around, eyes wide, people were everywhere. Cell phones, tablets, and other Stark Tech was surrounding Steve. “Wow, Steve you look a little green let’s sit down alright?”  
Steve looked at Clint and nodded, Clint grabbed his arm and marched him to the elevator and glared at anyone who tried to get into the elevator with them. He clicked the button for the cafeteria and turned to Steve who had crumbled by the elevator buttons.  
Clint knelt down and tried to get Steve to look up, “Hey buddy, you okay? I shouldn’t have brought you out on a Tuesday morning, It gets busy and hectic. I’m so sorry about that.” Steve looked up at him, Clint was stunned, Steve had tears running down his face and Clint had no idea what to do about it. “Steve?”

Steve threw his head back down into this hands and shook his head, “I’m fine Clark, just got reminded of everything that I missed.” It dawned on Clint, Steve was talking about all the technology and what people wore when they were in the lobby. He frowned and awkwardly patted Steve’s shoulder. Steve looked up at him looking surprised and uncomfortable, at least he wasn’t crying anymore. Clint stood up and brushed off his suit before offering his hand to Steve, he grabbed Clint’s hand and slowly stood up, not letting his full weight bother his friend. The elevator dinged, opening on the cafeteria floor, the smell of coffee was overwhelming and Clint almost ran to the cafeteria. 

They walked in and Clint was thankful that the breakfast rush was over and most people were doing their jobs on other floors. He grabbed 2 trays and handed 1 to Steve, “Grab anything you want it’s on SHIELD. Steve nodded and slowly walked around the cafeteria and only grabbing a bottle of orange juice and an apple. Clint shook his head and grabbed another tray filling both of his trays with fresh food and packaged food for snacks. He also grabbed the biggest cup of coffee they had and a few waters before setting his stuff before the cafeteria woman at one of the cash registers. He walked over to another cash register where Steve was waiting patiently and paid for the 2 items on his tray. “Hey pick anywhere you want to sit, I’m not very picky,” that wasn’t true actually, he really needed to have his back to the wall but he couldn’t tell Steve that. Going back to his food and paying with the SHIELD card he walked to Steve who had picked a table in the corner so that they both could have their backs to the wall, Clint was thankful for that. 

Sitting down and setting down the trays he looked at Steve, who was waiting to eat his apple until Clint got there and Steve raised an eyebrow, Clint had gotten a lot of food and Steve knew most of it was for him and was kind of glad someone was looking out for him, no strings attached. He blushed and thanked Clint with his eyes for calling him out silently on his bullshit. Seriously, Clint looked like he could down at least half of a tray of food, an apple wasn’t going to cut it, he really hadn’t eaten that much in 70 years so he took a tray Clint offered him and started demolishing the perishable food sheepishly. 

Clint smirked and took a big gulp of his coffee, almost burning his tongue, but he didn’t regret it. He could almost feel the caffeine running through his system and was thankful that this SHIELD had okay coffee. “So Steve, how are you this morning.” Steve almost choked on the mouthful of eggs in his mouth and looked up at Clint.

“I’m good, a little tired, the bed is kind of uncomfortable but I’m well, thank you.”

“What’s up with this “‘I’m well”’ bullshit? Be honest, I am your friend, but I’m also a psychiatrist, now be honest with me Steve, don’t be polite.”  
Steve stared hard at Clint before answering, “Well I forgot that it was kind of your business to know how I am doing so I apologize for my behavior. But if you want to know I feel, I feel like I woke up with the worst hangover and was hit by a tank, are you happy now?” Clint put down his coffee with a thud almost sloshing the hot liquid on his hand and suit. 

“I knew there was a smart ass under that exterior Mr. Rogers I just didn’t know that he was so close to the surface. You just passed one of my tests. Attitude and speech, the only way I could get you to show some emotion was by getting you angry, even if it took me 3 days. Most people only last about 45 minutes with me. The faster we get these test’s finished the faster we can get you the hell out of this place, do you understand?”

“You make me want to say “‘yes sir”’, but I don’t think that’s appropriate.”

“No, no it is not. Well I’m ready as soon as you are.” Steve had demolished ¾ of the food as they spoke and he actually seemed to be full. The rest was packaged so Clint stuck the rest of the food that Steve didn’t eat in his briefcase. “Okay lets throw the garbage away and I’m going to grab more coffee”, he had finished the coffee and the apple Steve had grabbed, but wasn’t hungry for anything else and had let Steve eat everything else. He refilled the coffee and threw the garbage away before motioning towards the elevators. They got in and Clint pushed the lobby button, the elevator shuddering upwards towards it’s goal. “So first thing is going to that small store across from the cafe, and then the park across town, I don’t have a car but walking is fine.” The elevator opened and they stepped into the lobby, Clint ushered Steve as fast as he was able through onto the street. “This way Steve”, Clint started walking towards the sidewalk, the heat was starting to get stifiling before Clint turned towards a small store hidden behind a few well groomed trees. They walked in a small bell on the door, signalling that there were customers. A friendly looking older woman appeared from the back and smiled at them. Clint and Steve waved, they had been there the day before and the woman knew who they were. Clint walked towards the mens section and moved towards the darker colors before remembering he was undercover, and moved to where Steve was browsing more button ups. Clint grumbled and went to the khaki shorts and grabbed a few pairs in his size, he went and grabbed quite a few plain white t-shirts. Before he walked back to Steve he grabbed a handful of boxers. “Grab enough for about a week, I can talk to SHIELD about cleaning any clothing. Steve nodded and brought his small pile towards the Khaki shorts. Clint grabbed one of every color button up, and a pair of strap sandals. He grabbed a pair for Steve and waited patiently for Steve to grab what he wanted before handing everything to the woman, she seemed surprised at the amount of clothing that they were buying, most of it was the same, just different sizes, she didn’t say anything though. She bagged everything, Steve’s clothing in one and Clint’s in another, she even let them change in the back room and they wandered back outside, silently walking towards the park, letting the silence speak volumes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, it's going to get interesting as time goes on just stick with it! Love you Guys!


	11. New Beginnings...

“Clint? Hey dude, you okay?” Clint startled upright, he had fallen asleep in the living room of the apartment and hadn’t noticed someone had come inside. Well, it was just Darcy, but still he was getting a little soft. He slowly sat all the way up and looked at Darcy, she seemed smug, she should, having snuck up on Clint Barton and will live to tell the tale…

“Don’t you dare tell anyone about this Darcy, I swear to everything that is holy you won’t make it past that door if you don’t promise me that this stays secret.”

“So that’s how you get the ladies Barton? Threaten them into bed? Or is that a lesson on how to not pick up chicks, because mission accomplished there boss.” She smirked and plopped down next to him on the sofa. “You’re probably wondering how I got in... yes I did knock the door down and set it back up, just kidding, it was unlocked. Way to make it easy for people to walk into your living quarters.” He just sat there and watched her numbly, he was exhausted, he didn’t care how many hours he got, they weren’t cutting it. He looked down at his watch and groaned, it was 8:30 in the morning and he wasn’t at work. He scrubbed at his eyes and started to get up when Darcy lightly put her hand on his arm. He tensed and looked at her quickly before she moved her hand. “Clint, it’s Saturday you don’t have to go to SHIELD it’s the weekend, you’ve been working your butt off all week, take a break, you’re making yourself sick.”

He looked down and noticed he still had most of his suit on, it looked like he had pretty much walked through the door, took off his jacket, and collapsed on the couch. He stood up and shook out any cramps or tight muscles from sleeping before starting towards his shower. “Darcy, just because it’s a Saturday doesn't mean I’m not going to work, Steve needs me, hopefully I can get him out of there by next Saturday by the latest. After that I will sleep until the world ends, also why are you in my home?” He had stopped in the hallway in front of his room before turning and really looking at Darcy, she was wearing a red knitted hat, glasses, a graphic tee covered by a flannel, ripped jeans, and a pair of sneakers.

“Oh, I came to say goodbye actually, Jane and I are leaving today, so no more free rides for you.” She handed him a set of keys and smiled, “They got you a sweet ride, be good to her. Don’t forget me loser.” He actually smiled and gave her a uncomfortable side hug, “Okay awkward, don’t make me bring out the taser.” Darcy moved out of his grasp and started moving towards the front door. “Don’t worry I will remember to lock it on the way out, oh and I’m grabbing food for the road, you seem to have a lot.” 

He opened his door and went to the bathroom to shower, he laughed to himself, he was going to miss Darcy, she was an odd one but she knew what she was doing. He got out of the shower and walked into his bedroom, he grabbed a pair of khakis and slipped them on over his boxers. Clint thought that well it WAS the weekend he could dress a little more casual, he slipped a nice red dress shirt on and buttoned it. Grabbing his badge and clipping on one of his chest pockets, he shuffled out of his bedroom. He walked into the kitchen, grabbed a yogurt and his watch from where he threw it on the way to the bathroom. Clint grabbed a pair of red converse, slipped them on, grabbed his briefcase, found his house key and the car keys and left the apartment. The door made an audible click as it shut. 

**********

“Good morning Steve,” Clint walked into the room where Steve was staying with coffee and a grocery bag. Steve looked up and smiled, he actually had gotten better over the past 5 days, they went to the gym, ate together, and walked around town together. 

“Clark, I didn’t think you were coming in this morning, it’s almost 9 and it’s Saturday, don’t you have a life or something?” Steve cocked his head a little and Clint moved his weight between his two feet. 

“Honestly Steve, all I have is work, I poured myself into it and now that I have someone to talk to I’m content.” Clint ducked his head and played with the coffee he was holding in his hand, God forbid he could talk to someone with emotion before shutting down like a robot. Clint cleared his throat and looked up, “Alright Steve, what would you like to do today?” He plopped down backwards on the chair a doctor had put in the room when Clint started hanging out in Steve’s room. He dropped the bag on the bed with Steve and rested his chin on the back of the chair, he was tired and was okay with Steve seeing him that way. He heard rustling and grinned, he had made huge sandwiches with everything on them before he left and he knew Steve would want at least 3. 

“Thank you Clark, you know for a shrink you’re pretty normal.” Steve smirked, over the past few days they had worked on new phrases and different types of joking and sarcasm that had changed in 70 years. Clint was quite proud, hopefully Steve would give some SHIELD agents a run for their money. Steve took a huge bite and looked at Clint, taking “biting off more then you can chew” to the extreme.   
“Not so bad yourself Capsicle,” he winked, “okay so today I was thinking we would talk to the doctors and see if we could get you out of this crap-hole.” Steve started coughing hard, sandwich crumbs flying. Clint threw a water from his bag over to Steve, after he could breath again Steve just looked at Clint, his baby blues searching Clint’s face for a lie.   
“Are you sure? I mean am I allowed out for more than a few hours?”

“The plan was getting you out of here as soon as possible, so I think it’s fine, if it’s okay with you we can go talk to the doctors now.” Steve quickly nodded and stood up, brushing crumbs off of his pants and shirt. Clint laughed, “Excited Mr. Rogers?”

Clint slid his passcard by the sensor and unlocked the door, letting Steve go ahead of him. They walked across the large garage and under the balcony that led to Steve’s room/cell. Clint knocked on a door and waited until they got the okay to go in. Dr. Hanson stood up and smiled at the men, “Hello Mr. Burns, Mr.Rogers, how may I help you today?

Clint sat down in one of the chairs in front of Dr. Hanson’s desk and waited for Steve and the doctor to sit before speaking. “Well, I’ve been here a little more than a week and I’ve seen fantastic progress, I think it’s time Steve is moved into his new quarters outside of SHIELD.”

The doctor gaped at him, before clearing his throat and setting his hands on the desk, “Mr. Burns, can I just say that I don’t see the progress that you do,” He looked at Steve, I’m sorry Mr. Rogers I just don’t believe you're ready. I am declining your idea of moving Mr. Rogers. He needs more time, and I think it’s best that it’s all supervised. 

Clint smirked, yes he knew he was getting cocky but this was his favorite part. Slipping a letter out of his briefcase he handed it to Dr. Hanson and spoke, “Dr. Hanson I appreciate your concern but according to that letter, written and signed by DIRECTOR FURY, I get to decide what is best for Mr. Rogers until (A) I’m told otherwise by Fury or (B) Steve decides to do what he wants. Overall you don’t get a say in this Dr. Hanson I was just being cordial with you, I knew the outrage you would be feeling and the annoyance of having the biggest assignment you’ve ever had, ripped out of your hands.” Clint stood and turned back to look at Dr. Hanson, “Steve and I will be out of your hair by 1:30, I’ll make sure to tell the clean-up crew, I think this headquarters would enjoy having the parking garage back.” Nodding to the doctor Clint stood up and waited for Steve before walking out of the office, “I wonder where they actually put all of the Quinjets and SUV’s, I’ll have to talk to SHIELD, I’m curious. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

As Clint had said, he and Steve were out by 1:30, Steve had packed quickly, but efficiently, he only had a small duffel half full so they had time to watch the clean-up crew do their jobs, it was actually quite interesting to watch for Steve. By 3:00 everything was gone, except for the overlook and the small offices underneath. The Quinjets and other vehicles had just started driving in when Clint looked at Steve. “Hey Steve, You want to see what’ll you’ll be living in for the next few months?” Steve turned to look at Clint, a small glimmer in his eye, and nodded. They stood up and started walking out of Steve’s prison for the last time.


	12. HomeMakers

Steve and Clint walked out into the New Mexico sun and towards “Clint’s car”. Clint was actually surprised that SHIELD gave him a car, Fury was adamant that he was never allowed to drive any SHIELD vehicle after a consecutive 8 destroyed SUV’s and sleek cars. (Very proud of that information,) he also had the record for most cars destroyed at SHIELD in a 6 month radius.) Shaking his head and smirking he unlocked the door to the nice black nondescriptive car SHIELD had let him use. Clint look at Steve and made sure the duffel made it to the back seat, and that Steve had made it to the front seat. Clint turned on the car and drove the tiny distance to his apartment and his reserved parking space. “Come on Steve, It’s the top floor”, they got out and walked into the lobby. “Alright the gym is down here, so is the mailbox, okay let’s keep going.” They walked up to the top floor and Clint took out 2 keys, “Here’s your key, you can come and go whenever you want.” Clint used his and unlocked the apartment, he walked in and turned, watching Steve’s eyes grow huge. “Yeah, it’s a lot to get used to but it’s home until you and I decide otherwise. So the kitchen is over there, I’ll make dinner most nights unless something comes up, eat whenever or whatever for breakfast and lunch.” Clint walked over to the closet/panic room and opened the door, “Steve if you have a problem simply stick your palm on the scanner and it will let you in, I believe you can survive a week in the room before any resources run out.” Clint gently pushed Steve towards the hallway and towards the last door on the right, “This is your room, I won’t bother you unless it’s important, I’m going to go start dinner, and you can get settled.” Steve turned and walked through the door, “Hey Steve?” Steve looked at Clint, “The room next door is your’s also, dinner is served at 5.” 

Clint rushed to the kitchen and slumped against the granite island, he was overwhelmed and didn’t know what to say to Steve, not only did Steve wake up in the wrong century, he had been relocated twice in a week. Even Clint would be in a small amount of shock... but Clint was trained to ignore shock, hell he didn’t even know if he could get shocked anymore. Shaking his head and turning, he went to the fridge and tried to grab a beer before stopping and turning on the kettle, “Stay in character Clint,” he thought to himself. He went to the cabinet and found the black tea and a cup, while he waited he grabbed some chicken, and put it in the sink to defrost. He shuffled through the fridge and grabbed ingredients for Stir-Fry, along with the brown rice from the pantry. The kettle whistled and Clint filled his cup with tea, all of his concentration then went to cooking.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Steve! Dinner is ready!” Clint grabbed a serving bowl with enough rice for 8 large men and the large wok of stir-fry. He put them on the table on the two spots he had placed earlier, along with a few different drink varieties. Steve appeared in the hall, walked to the table, and sat down quietly, Clint sat down diagonal from him and sighed. “So this is going to happen again huh?” Steve looked at him questionly, “It took me a week to get you to talk to me and now I have to restart over again don’t I?”  
Steve blushed, “Sorry Clark, I didn’t mean to, I didn’t talk to really anyone unless you came to visit, not only that, I have to get used to all of this.” He gestured to the space around them and frowned at Clint. 

“That’s understandable, but you could have spoken to me about it,” Clint was unhappy but went silent. “Okay now that we have this settled, can we eat? I’m starving and I’m the worst person when I’m hungry.” 

Steve laughed hard, “Yes, I’m also hungry.” Clint smiled and they started demolishing the piles of food. 

They finished off the food within a half hour, not a bite left to show what they had eaten. Clint sat back and stretched, he was full and comfortable. Steve stood up and grabbed the plates, “No Steve, I got it, just leave them here for a second. Steve smiled and kept walking towards the kitchen. Clint groaned and slowly stood up, he grabbed the serving bowl and any extra silverware. He could grab everything else when he came back to wash the table. He made it to the kitchen and watched Steve wash the dishes. “Need any help?”

“No, I’m fine thank you, but if you grabbed all of the dishes from the table I can wash them.” Clint smiled and went to grab the rest of the dishes before starting another pot of hot water. He grabbed a towel and dried all of the dishes and put them away. 

Clint went to the cabinet and looked at all the tea he had bought on a whim, he grabbed a decaffeinated one and another cup, “Would you like some tea Steve?” 

Steve stopped rinsing out the sink, “I would love some, thank you.” The kettle whistled and Clint filled two cups, he handed one to Steve and walked out to the living area. He sank into the couch next to his briefcase, Clint grabbed his StarkTop and started to document the day into his debrief journal that Coulson wanted. Steve came over and quietly sat down in a chair across from Clint and stared at his tea. Clint’s fingers stopped whirling on the keyboard and looked at Steve, “Would you like a book or watch the TV?”

Steve thought for a moment, “Books would probably be the best bet for me.” Clint shut the StarkTop and walked over to the bookshelf on the wall, the apartment had it’s own mini library and Clint was now glad about it. “Pick what you would like to read, heck pick them all they’re ours.” Steve started looking at the books and Clint went back to the coach, he wanted to finish the last week of the debrief, he hadn’t done anything in the last 5 days. He just came home and passed out, he didn’t know why he was so tired but it was getting annoying, it wasn’t even 7 and he was already starting to nod off. He shook his head and kept working, Steve had found a book and was back in the chair, it was an easy silence for both of them. 

Clint finally finished the report and shut the StarkTop with a click, he stretched and looked at his watch, it was 10, he had worked his butt off and hadn't moved a muscle, he stood up and shook out all the numb muscles. He looked at Steve who was in the exact position that Clint had seen him in over 3 hours before. “Hey, Steve. Buddy I’m going to call it a night, you can stay up or do what you want, but I’m exhausted.”

“I’m pretty tired myself, I’ll follow you.” Steve stood up and followed Clint as he walked to the door, made sure it was locked and grabbed a bottle of water from the kitchen. Clint went back to the couch and grabbed the StarkTop, he might get an email from Natasha and he wanted it close. He walked to his room and turned, Steve had gone to his door and was waiting for some cue to walk into his room. 

“Goodnight Steve.”

“Goodnight Clark.” Clint went into his room and shut the door, he slipped on his pajamas and did his nightly routine before dropping into his bed and falling fast asleep.

*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

_Gunshots rang out in the darkness, flashes of gun powder appearing around the vicinity. Running, running, somewhere. Anywhere. Gun in hand Clint started to run towards Natasha's room to see if she was okay, bad idea considering she was a trained assassin but she was the only family he had left. The endless hallways would mess anyone up even if they knew where they were going, he swore and felt along the wall towards the closest brush of air, jumped up and grabbed a hidden handle, (the only people who knew he installed it were Natasha and Coulson). Clint swung his body until his feet came over his head and slipped into the vent above him, letting go of the handle the rest of his body followed his feet. The emergency lights switched on, tiny orange beacons coming from under him, “finally”he muttered, quickly he started the familiar trek to Nat's room and hoped he got there in time. Reaching her hallway he looked down and jumped, gun at the ready, landing lightly he shot at a masked agent with a hydra emblem on his forearm. The agent dropped and Clint typed his pass code into Nat's wall pad, the door slid open and Clint rushed in. He dropped to his knees, anyone he had ever loved was dead in her room, Barney, Phil, Kate, Nat, hell even Fury and the girl he had a crush on in kindergarten. He looked up into a barrel of a gun. ___

Damn. 


	13. Times A Changin'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, yeah it's been a while, I haven't had the ability to load up chapters, yes this is a filler chapter. The next chapter should be out within 2-3 days. It's kind of an apology.

Clint woke up to the smell of bacon. 

 

He stretched and rolled over, he felt like crap and his… nightmare, didn’t help. He checked the bedside clock and noticed it was only 6:00 am. He wouldn’t have moved but he really had to pee, he crawled out of bed and went to the bathroom to pee. Clint washed his hands and brushed his teeth before trudging into his bedroom to get dressed. After throwing on jeans and a plain grey t-shirt with some socks he slid towards the kitchen. He came bursting out of the hallway, almost falling on his face because of the damn socks. He caught himself and slowly walked towards the island in front of the kitchen. Steve was cooking up a storm, eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, cubed potatoes, and freshly squeezed orange juice. “Morning Steve.”

 

“Morning Clark, would you like some breakfast?” Steve turned with a full plate of bacon and Clint’s stomach grumbled. Steve laughed, he easily heard Clint’s stomach, Clint blushed bright red. “I take that as a yes.” Steve piled up a plate and handed it to Clint along with some orange juice. Clint put his food on the table and walked into the kitchen for a much needed cup of coffee, grabbing a mug and filling it with freshly made coffee, he turned to look at Steve and took a sip. 

 

“Steve, not that I don’t enjoy your food or your company, can I ask why you’re up this early?” Clint started shoveling food into his mouth between sips of coffee, Steve blushed.

 

“I really haven’t been sleeping since… I woke up I guess. I mean why would I,” His tone turned bitter,” when I slept for seventy years,” Steve dropped his fork with a clatter. “May I be excused?” Clint sat silently before nodding. Steve stood up and walked stiffly towards the hallway, Clint heard a door close with a “snick”. Clint sat and thought about what he had said to bother the captain as badly as he did. Clint sighed, he obviously couldn’t sleep because of nightmares, Clint should have known, considering how bad his nightmares were. He brushed a hand through his hair before standing and bringing his dishes to the dishwasher. He put all the leftovers in the fridge and put all of the dishes in the dishwasher before closing it and washing his hands. He leaned against the sink and looked out the window in front of him, the world was unknowingly passing him and Steve by. He went to his room and grabbed his StarkTop and any paperwork that needed to be done. He went to the office next to his room and started working on the daily journal he was SUPPOSE to write in, but it had been every other day at the most. He wanted to give Steve some time before going to talk to him. Time passed quickly and efficiently for Clint, he had finished the journal entries and some of the budget paperwork. He stretched, sighed, and checked the clock on the wall, 8:30, He grumbled about being up early every day, and walked towards the door and then Steve’s room.

 

“Steve,” Clint knocked and waited, it was silent on the other side of the door. He walked to the the next door and repeated his inquiries. He heard a pencil scratching against paper, it hadn’t stopped when he knocked. He slowly opened the door and peeked in. Steve was sitting in a comfy chair by one of the wide windows and hadn’t even looked up when the door opened. Clint wasn’t an artist, but Steve was like the statue of David. High cheekbones, strong chin and nose, golden hair, haloed by the rising sun, Clint could see the sharp lines of concentration that ran between his baby blue eyes. If Clint rolled that way Steve could be the “one” for him. He snorted to himself and knocked against the door frame. Steve looked up startled, and dropped his pencil. “Oh God Steve I’m sorry, didn’t mean to startle you.” Steve stood up quickly, throwing his sketchbook closed onto the chair.

 

“No it’s fine Clark, how can I help you?” Steve stood defensive, like he was ready to fight, or run. He obviously was still upset from the breakfast fiasco, and other things that Clint hadn’t even heard about.

 

“Steve, I was wondering if you wanted to go to the coffee shop with me? You really didn’t finish breakfast and I wanted to talk to you.” Steve stood down a little bit. He was wearing a semi formal button up with his sleeves rolled up and a pair of pressed khakis. Steve really didn’t look that scary, nor did he dress like a normal young adult in the 21st century. Granted Clint let him grab whatever he wanted, he really didn’t want to cause people to ask questions. 

 

“Yes, I would enjoy that,” Steve had made slight progress with his speech patterns over the weeks he had been awake and listening. He must of been really upset if he had slipped into his old speech patterns. Clint decided he didn’t want to point it out and bother Steve further. 

 

“Um, Steve, I know you don’t really know better, but is everything that you bought, button ups and khakis?” 

 

Steve turned red, and squirmed slightly. “Yeah, except for some white undershirts.”

 

“Okay,” Clint walked towards Steve’s room with Steve trailing behind. “Take your button up off and I’ll be right back.” Clint walked across the hall and into his room, he grabbed his suitcase and grabbed the biggest pair of sweatpants that he owned. “Steve we’re going to grab some jeans while we’re out, but these will work,” he handed them to Steve, who crinkled his nose. 

 

“These are acceptable outside of the gym or your house?”

“Yep, Come on, hurry up, let’s move I’ll meet you at the door. He went and grabbed his sunglasses and wallet, then threw on his sneakers. He walked towards the closet and grabbed his favorite flannel, he threw it on, and grabbed another one. He walked out gave it to Steve who shrugged it on and seemed to settle in his skin. Steve had thrown on his shoes, and they walked down to the coffee shop across the street.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, the statue of David was sculpted by Michelangelo between 1501-1504, it's based off of the biblical character David, who is one of the most famous characters in the bible. It's 17 FEET TALL. (Fun Fact: David is an ancestor of Jesus) I apologize for anyone bothered by this explanation.


	14. What's with technology?

“Alright, so what do you want to know?” Steve and Clint had been sitting awkwardly in silence for a good 20 minutes, Clint had been drinking his coffee but ran out around minute 11. He was starting to wonder if he should get another one when he heard Steve speak.

“What’s with the not sleeping thing 1st of all?” Clint mentally smacked himself, he totally shouldn’t have asked him so bluntly, but well, too late now. Steve looked at him eyes wide.

“Way to just get right into it then,” Steve fidgeted slightly, “You know I was awake a lot of the time right?”

“I wasn’t sure but I supposed you did.”

“I don’t like remembering that part of my life, but considering it was 70 years, I might have to make my peace with it. I guess my body would go into hibernation every time my core temp went into the danger zone, I would be thankfully unconscious for months, if not years before my body would restart and try again. I really didn’t sleep much because of the serum and because of the unconsciousness that happened often, I would be awake for what felt like weeks. If I slept it would be nightmares…” Steve’s eyes watered, threatening tears if Clint wasn’t careful.

“Well, since I was so blunt last time, I’m just gonna stick with what I know and go from there,” Steve let out a surprised gasp of air. “What are the nightmares about Steve?” Clint thought he knew because of the debrief packet but wanted to hear it from the source. 

“Bucky.”

That’s all he really needed to say and Clint understood, according to the rest of the howling commando’s, Steve had told them that Bucky had fallen off a train and Steve couldn’t save him. They said he was torn up, but couldn’t go look for his body because they had more missions… and then Steve fell into the ocean and had been there ever since, Clint thought bitterly. “Is that all?”

“I mean other than crashing into a freezing ocean with the tesseract keeping me up at night. Then yeah that it.” Steve was bitter, but he had the right to be. 

“What about Peggy?” Steve flinched but said nothing. Yep, definitely something about Peggy was bothering him.  
“I can’t help you Steve if you don’t tell me anything. I can tell you something that keeps me up at night if you want.” Steve was silent, but Clint took that as a good sign. “I dream that my father was still alive. Still beating me senseless.” Clint laughed bitterly. “I’m a grown ass man, my father has been dead for over 20 years. But yet I feel like a kid.” Clint went silent, it was true. Granted most of his nightmares weren’t about that, but sometimes something triggered one. He felt Steve’s eyes stabbing holes into his brain. 

“I’m sorry Clark. I didn’t know.”

“Yeah, well. No one knew, one of the reasons I decided I should help people. Maybe I can help someone have a normal night’s rest. Even if I can’t 90% of the time.” Clint got up and went to get another coffee. He was really exhausted, it wore him out, talking about his feelings. Plus, that same nightmare was still waking him up at night. He got his coffee and walked back to the table. Steve looked at him for a moment.

“Clark?” Clint looked up from his coffee with an eyebrow raised. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“Telling me why you wake up at night.” Clint nodded and kept drinking his coffee. “And Clark.”

“Hmmmm?”

“If I had been around when you were a kid, or even now, I would have made sure your father wouldn’t be able to touch anything ever again.” Clint coughed on his coffee, spluttering the hot liquid out onto the table. He gasped for air, waiting until he could breathe properly again. 

“Thanks. Steve.”

“Yes, you’re welcome. Okay I know this isn’t going to fix me right away but it’s a start right?”

“Yep, we made a big step together.” Clint internally groaned, he knew he was going to have to read some Post Trauma manuals. He had no idea what he was doing. He also knew that the coffee wasn’t working. He needed to get his butt home, but he needed to work out. “Hey Steve, want to go on a run?”

Steve perked up, “Yeah, just let me put the dishes in the bin,” he walked away with all the dishes, all eyes were on him. Clint rolled his eyes, couldn’t go anywhere without someone staring at his ass. Not that Clint looked at it… Okay Natasha wanted details, he gave her them, and she decided not to maim him. It was for his survival! Steve walked back over and they walked out of the Café, “Okay what path are we taking?”

“I was think we go our separate ways and meet back up at the apartment in an hour?” Clint was crossing his fingers, he wanted to see whether Steve came back or ran off. He knew that SHIELD would run after Steve, he was too valuable to let go. Steve looked very surprised he was allowed anywhere by himself. He seemed to weigh his answers before speaking.

“Sure, I’ll meet you at the apartment.” Clint waved and Steve ran off, Clint ran in the opposite direction. He wanted time to think. Clint ran. He ran hard. He hadn’t really been alone for weeks. From the 1st mission, to now, he hadn’t had time to be… himself. Granted this was the closest he could be himself on a mission. But he wanted to be called by his real name. Watch movies with Phil and Natasha. Sticky dart people on base. He still hadn’t gotten AD Hill or Fury. He needed to get them before his dart gun privileges were revoked. He wanted to check books off of his reading list. He loved reading. He just didn’t have time or the energy to read. Clint wanted to go back to school. He had several degrees, but he wanted to learn more. He wasn’t as stupid as people thought. Clint shook his head. He’d have free time eventually, but he had to go back to Steve. He looked around and noticed he was about a mile from the apartment. He pushed himself and made it back in less than 6 minutes. He slowly walked up the stairs and made it to the 2nd floor when he started to noticed a great smell. He walked up the stairs and put his hand on the door knob, the smell was coming from there. He pushed in the door quickly and rolled behind the couch. 

“What are you doing?” Clint jumped and whipped his head towards the voice. It was just Steve, he was in the hallway, smirking a little bit.

“Oh… You know… Just making sure I still got it.” Clint stood up and brushed himself off. He noticed than how sweaty and gross he looked. Along with the fact that the great smell had been Steve cooking. Steve looked at him curiously. “You know I always wasn’t a psychiatrist… I’m gonna take a shower, then you can feed me whatever that smell is coming from. Then you’re going to learn how to use a cell phone. Clint brushed by him and walked towards his bathroom. Showering was the best decision he had made in weeks. He was gonna fall asleep in the shower if he didn’t move, he shook his head and finished showering. He stepped out and noticed stubbly he was. That and how skinny he has gotten. He shrugged. He hadn’t been hungry all the time anymore. He just knew he had to eat, well remember to eat. He quickly shaved and slipped on a well-worn Henley and sweatpants. He was tired, sore, and kinda hungry. He walked back to the kitchen, food set out on the island. He plopped down in the farthest chair so he could eat without bumping elbows with Steve. He was ambidextrous, but he preferably ate left handed. “How’s it going Steve? You got back here earlier than an hour.”

Steve had sat down and stuck a mg of tea by Clint’s elbow. “Yeah sorry about that, my speed sometimes makes workouts faster. No matter how much I run.”

“How did you get back into the apartment?” Steve flushed slightly, “I slipped it out of your jacket at the café. I figured we were most likely doing something after our talk. I didn’t want to make you worry that I wasn’t running or was using you. Your kind to me, I didn’t want to go back.” The last sentence was pushed out in a rush. Steve flushed and ducked his head, he started to stare intently at his beef stew and garlic potatoes. Clint’s mind whirled. Not only did Steve admit to being as sneaky as Clint himself was. He wanted to stay. With Clint. He was speechless. He understood that Steve didn’t want to go back to SHIELD, but he could of just ran. Ran to the ends of the Earth. Granted SHIELD would have found him within hours.

“I’m sorry Clark, I wasn’t thinking. I’m just tired, and hungry.”

“It’s fine Steve.” Steve looked up and stared at Clint. “I enjoy your company Steve. But you have to remember that the minute I deem you fit for living in the 21st century, I go to my next patient.” Steve flushed and frowned.

“I understand. Doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy your company and opinions. Not many men or women can keep up with me as well as you do. Plus, you’re more of a friend then a therapist. I’m glad that I woke up, and met you. It probably wouldn’t have gone as well as it has, acclimating to this century that is. You somehow understand me! Not who I look like, you understand the soldier side of me. It’s nice that you admitted you weren’t just a psychiatrist. But with the skills I saw earlier, you weren’t JUST a soldier. But I’ll let it go. I enjoy my privacy, so you should be able to enjoy yours. Some days I’m going to be sad and won’t speak, somedays I won’t want to be alone. I just wanted you to know this. And I hope you still want to be my friend after all this Clark.”  
Clint sat and stared at his plate. Steve would feel betrayed. Because not only did he think Clint was actually Clark. The worst thing for Steve would be that Clint WAS SHIELD. He would be the one to catch or kill Steve. That was his job, catch or capture. It’s never bothered him this much since he actually joined. SO he tried to be as honest as possible.

“I hope we can Steve. The future is an unknown factor. I don’t deal with unknown factors.” That was a HUGE lie. That’s all that he did now a days. But he didn’t want Steve to know who he was. Okay, time to change subjects.

“Okay, you cooked, I wash dishes. Then you get to learn about the gift that is technology.” He finished what he was eating and stood up. “That was amazing. My compliments to the chef.” He grabbed his dishes and filled up the sink with hot soapy water, he grabbed all the dished and filled a container with the meager amount of leftovers. Dishes went quickly, but it thankfully it gave him more time to think about what he wanted after this mission. He laid the dishes to dry, too lazy to actually dry the dishes. He walked towards the living room, he saw Steve reading on the sofa. He smiled and went to grab his phone and the other one for Steve. Clint really hoped it wouldn’t take a long time. He really wanted to go to bed.

“Alright,” Clint plopped down on the sofa next to Steve. “Let’s do this,” Steve marked his book and looked at Clint unimpressed. “Okay, it’s pretty simple, we preloaded numbers and the phone will respond to your DNA, no one else.” Steve quirked an eyebrow and looked at him. “Okay put the phone in your hand. Clint almost had to force the phone into Steve’s hand. “It has to touch your skin Steve, just touch it?” Steve’s hand curled around the phone. “Good, alright push the power button.” Steve touched the power button and the phone started loading the Stark Industries logo, frozen on the screen. The phone switched to the lock screen unlocking the screen almost immediately. It had sensed Steve’s DNA, and opened. Steve’s eyes widened. “Alright Starkphones are the best phones you can get. But I’m just gonna show you the basics. Clint started tapping the screen, at different icons. “Just play with your phone, it’s pretty heavy duty, but don’t break it, my boss would have my head.” Clint stood up and went to grab his laptop, and the paperwork he had to do. He walked back to the kitchen and made some tea for Steve and then a different, less fruity kind for himself. He handed a mug to Steve who was engrossed with the small device in his hands. Steve’s eye’s flickered to Clint’s, it was a silent thanks. Clint sat down on the couch next to Steve in case he had any questions. Clint needed to finish his daily updates for the last 3 days. He had to email Natasha and Phil, and catch up on the world outside of the apartment. They sat there for hours sitting in a companionable silence. Clint fell asleep listening to Steve tapping lightly on his screen. 

_Gunshots rang out in the darkness, flashes of gun powder appearing around the vicinity. Running, running, somewhere. Anywhere. Gun in hand Clint started to run towards Natasha's room to see if she was okay, bad idea considering she was a trained assassin but she was the only family he had left. The endless hallways would mess anyone up even if they knew where they were going, he swore and felt along the wall towards the closest brush of air, jumped up and grabbed a hidden handle, (the only people who knew he installed it were Natasha and Coulson). Clint swung his body until his feet came over his head and slipped into the vent above him, letting go of the handle the rest of his body followed his feet. The emergency lights switched on, tiny orange beacons coming from under him, “finally “he muttered, quickly he started the familiar trek to Nat's room and hoped he got there in time. Reaching her hallway, he looked down and jumped, gun at the ready, landing lightly he shot at a masked agent with a hydra emblem on his forearm. The agent dropped and Clint typed his pass code into Nat's wall pad, the door slid open and Clint rushed in. He dropped to his knees, anyone he had ever loved was dead in her room, Barney, Phil, Kate, Nat, hell even Fury and the girl he had a crush on in kindergarten. He looked up into a barrel of a gun._

Shit.


	15. Keep Paddling Through

“Clark, Clark!” Clint’s eyes shot open, someone had their hand on his shoulder. He turned and grabbed the intruder’s wrist. Clint stood and twisted, bearing down until he had the intruder on the ground kneeling. Clint’s chest heaved, his senses quickly tried to catch up with Clint’s fight response. The intruder tried to fight back and Clint bore down on the intruder’s wrist until they stopped struggling. Clint’s brain finally caught up with his body, his eyes widened.

“Oh Shit!” Clint ripped his hands away from Steve. He sat down with a thud onto the floor and started scooting towards the hall. He could have broken Steve’s hand, let alone his arm! All because he let his guard down.  
********************************  
“Clark, calm down. Come on, calm down.” Steve had his hands raised in front of him, trying to calm Clint down like a startled animal. Which was what he was, considering the way he had acted. Clint bumped into the stair that separated him from the rest of the apartment, at the end of the living room. “Clark, STOP.” Clint stopped in his tracks, his damn army training betraying him. Steve’s eyes locked with Clint, who’s eyes made him look like a deer caught in headlights. His chest was heaving, like he had run miles instead of crawling feet. Steve was amazed by the skills Clark had used. Steve knew that if he wasn’t serum infused his wrist would have easily shattered into pieces. Granted Clark broke a few bones, but they were healing as Steve was trying to calm Clark down. Clark had fallen asleep next to Steve. Steve had wanted to finish his book, but had been engrossed in the phone until Clark started to make small noises. Steve didn’t want to wake him up, and move him to his bedroom. Clark looked like he needed the sleep, and Steve wasn’t going to bother him.

Steve now knew why Clark needed the sleep, it had looked like a hell of a nightmare and then he had to try and wake Clark up. Considering how quickly Clark had attacked him, he had more than just army training, and wasn’t talking about it. Steve looked at Clark pityingly. He was still caught in a part of his nightmare; Steve knew he had to figure a way to get him completely out of it. He stood up and walked towards the kitchen, a firm “stay”, had the twitching figure at the stairs freeze. Steve looked around the kitchen, filling a pitcher and filling it with cold water, he went and grabbed a nice towel from the bathroom before walking back to Clark. The only way Steve could see was to shock Clark out of the recesses of his mind. Steve threw the water at Clark and waited, just in case it didn’t work and Steve would get attacked again.   
*********************************  
Clint gasped, an icy knife cut through the fog encasing his brain. Clint threw his head around, finally seeing where he was. Clint saw Steve in front of him holding a towel and a pitcher. Steve looked apologetic, “Steve?” Clint saw severe bruising around one of Steve’s wrists, and everything Clint had done while he was still half asleep came tearing through his mind. He was sickened by himself. How could SHIELD think he could do this? He was too messed up, a simple nightmare made him attack the person he was supposed to protect. His head was slowly lowering to his knees; he was ashamed of himself.   
“Clark?” Clint’s head shot up, he had almost forgot Steve was there, which was something that went against all of his instincts and training. He was not only failing Steve he was failing himself.  
“Clark”. Clint looked, really looked at Steve, Steve seemed sheepish, but Clint could tell he was worried. Clint looked at the damage he had inflicted on Steve and flinched. He had probably blown his cover with Steve, attacking him while half asleep would be the only time he would have ever blown it anyway. But as Clint watched the bruising it started to look days old instead of minutes. Steve edged closer and Clint allowed it, too tired to argue with Steve at the moment. Steve wrapped the towel around Clint’s shoulders looking worried. That was when Clint realized he was shivering; cold water, while a good way to wake someone up, wasn’t comfortable in the long term. Clint pulled the towel closer, noting that his teeth had started chattering.   
Steve brought the pitcher back to kitchen and returned with the mop. “Clark why don’t you go shower and I’ll clean up the mess,” Clint detached, nodded slightly and started shuffling towards his room. He walked right into the shower, clothing ignored until further notice. Clint had water shooting out of the shower head as hot as he could stand before undressing and throwing the clothing in the sink. He wanted to get warm and the clothes weren’t going to help him. He stood in the shower numbly, teeth slowly going silent, he had made his way to the bottom of the shower and curled up, hot water spraying him constantly. He was ashamed, and he was tired. He didn’t know what the damn nightmare meant, nor did he want to know. He just wanted it to stop, it had started hindering his productivity in his life and his job. He just wanted to sleep without worrying about killing Steve during the day if Clint hadn’t slept the night before. He knew that if he couldn’t get them to stop, and his ability to perform his job was bothered he would have to tell Phil or Fury. But then he would have to leave Steve, who had recently admitted how much he had been relying on Clint. To Steve it would probably seem like a betrayal, and Clint had ruined enough people’s lives. He started to grumble, he knew that if he didn’t get out of the shower soon Steve would come in after him, whether Clint was clothed or not. He got up and turned off the water, missing the warmth immediately, he toweled off and grabbed the warmest clothes he had with him before emailing Nat. He knew she hated when he talked about the nightmares, but they weren’t such a constant before, and Clint couldn’t just ignore them by himself anymore. Clint finished his email just as Steve’s head peeked in the doorway, wary of scaring Clint again. The man was slightly smaller than Steve, but packed a punch. Clint turned and put his laptop on the dresser.  
“Yes Steve? How can I help you?” Clint checked his clock, it was only 8:45, and he was ready to curl up in bed till Monday. Clint heard Steve’s feet walk onto the floorboards in his room.  
“I brought you some tea, I thought you might still be cold.” Clint turned and looked at Steve, at the wrist he had abused. It had become just a slight discoloration of his skin, and Clint was stunned. He knew the serum was amazing, but watching it work was amazing, considering Clint definitely broke something in Steve’s wrist. It had been maybe a half an hour since Clint had disappeared into his room, and Steve was almost completely healed, but why would he risk his skin so soon though? Clint shuffled closer and grabbed the tea, he retreated to the other side of his bed, he wanted to be left alone, but he couldn’t hide from Steve forever.   
“Thank you, Steve.” The unspoken, ‘I hurt you’ made the air in the room heavy with untold knowledge.   
“Clark, you did nothing wrong,” Clint’s eyes widened! Of course, he did something wrong, but Steve wouldn’t let him get a word in. “No, you were having a nightmare, I tried to wake you up, I had completely forgotten that you had special training. This all happened because I overlooked the fact that you case a room the minute you walk in, that you can’t have your back to anyone, and especially when you get nervous and your hands twitch towards the nonexistent weapon. You haven’t done this long but you’re good at it. You Clark are more than a match for me, so you broke my wrist? I don’t care, I came at you when you were still half asleep and nightmare induced. I deserved it! You’re a great man, all great men have some skeleton in their closet. I’ve done things that I’m not proud of, I have never considered myself a good man, and I don’t understand why others think I am a good person. I’ve killed people, more people than I ever want to think about, but I do, because I survived. Through all this I look at you and I want to be just as amazing as you are. So, we have nightmares, big deal, almost everyone has nightmares. I didn’t want to tell you mine, but I did Clark, I don’t think you CAN tell me your nightmares as they probably contain classified information. But if you can’t work well because of them, you need to see someone who can help you.” Clint had moved to sit on the edge of the bed, listening silently until Steve said he should see someone.   
“No. Steve”, Steve looked stunned at the shutdown that had enveloped Clint. “If I tell my supervisor about the nightmares I will be forced to leave. You will get someone else and you’ll never see me again.” Steve looked at Clint trying to see if he was telling the truth.  
“I didn’t know.”  
“Didn’t want to worry you.”  
“You’re my friend, I would have wanted to know.”  
“You’re also my patient Steve, I have to have some confidentiality about what I do.” Steve knew he was defeated.  
“Go to bed Clark, you look like a dead man walking.” Steve walked out and went to his room, the door clicking softly as he shut the door.  
Clint sighed, it was getting harder to keep his two lives separate. He grabbed the tea Steve gave him and drank it, it was a considerate thing of Steve, and it warmed his insides. He put the cup down and padded to his door shutting it, and making sure it was locked securely. He turned off the lights and went back towards the bed. He didn’t want to think anymore, it was painful for his muddled mind. He didn’t care if he got the nightmare again, he’d just go back to sleep, he wasn’t leaving his room for the rest of the weekend. He burrowed into the blush bed, sighing at the warmth and the feeling of safety. Clint fell asleep, not knowing that his phone screen had started to light up on the bedside table

**********************************  
Steve shut his door and sighed. His wrist was just a dull throb in the back of his mind. He was more worried about Clark, Steve had noticed how tired he had looked over the past few weeks. He had also noticed that Clark’s clothes were getting baggier on his muscular frame daily. The nightmares were taking their toil, Steve understood though, he had his fair share of nightmares. Just none that ravaged his body as badly as Clarks. Steve was mad at himself, he should have known that Clark hadn’t said anything about the nightmares to protect Steve. He wasn’t talking to a specialist and he was pretending he was fine, just for Steve. It made Steve feel like an idiot, that he was just thinking about himself. His job was to protect others, and not worry about himself. He walked to his bed and grabbed his sketchbook, he needed to sit and think things through clearly as possible, sketching was his best bet, considering Steve wouldn’t be able to sleep with his mind going a mile a minute. Steve sat in a chair by the window, the sun was almost done setting, the sky alight with shades of red and orange. It was a perfect picture and would allow him to detach and just think. The scratch of charcoal was the only noise in the room, Steve wanted to help Clark, but at the same time; it would be too dangerous to even try too. Clark’s training probably wouldn’t let Steve within touching distant. But, what if Steve just escaped? He shook his head, by the look on Clark’s face when he was talking about his employers, there was no chance of Steve making a clean escape without a body count. Plus, it sounded like the company Clark worked for was bigger than they let the world think, Steve wouldn’t make it far. He refused to move from the thread of thought he had and move on to his past, anything but his past. It made him angry, angry because he couldn’t save his frien- ‘CRACK’. “Whoops”, Steve looked at his hand and sighed, that was one of the many reasons he shouldn’t think about his past, his strength could get the better of him. That’s why he tried to not think beyond the last three months he had been awake. He stood up and stretched, the sketch was half finished and he would have to wait until the next dusk to finish it. Maybe he could try watercolors even, anything to take his mind from the time he had lost, and his inability to notice the fight Clark was in with his mind. Steve looked at his bed warily, the nightmares didn’t help him either. He went and washed his hands before hopping into the shower. He didn’t want to sleep, he knew he didn’t need as much as he did before the serum, but he was still human. Steve was wary of sleeping in case he woke up and he was still in the ice. A shiver ran down his spine, he was cold all the time, like he was still in the ice. It didn’t matter how long he sat outside in the heat, even after Clark went inside because according to him it was, ‘hot as hell’. Steve knew it was psychological, but he was still frozen to the core, he didn’t want to bed and never see this world again. Steve shook his head and got out of the shower, he was just going to have to bite the bullet and at least try to sleep. He jumped when he walked past his reflection, even now he sometimes didn’t know who stared back at him. It was a struggle, to know that this was “him”, and no one else even though he had lived with the serum for 70+ years. To be brutally honest Steve had only looked the way he did for about a year and a half before the plane. He sometimes wished that he had been denied the serum too, he wouldn’t have lived to see all his friend’s dead. He just wanted to live without… what did Clark call it? Oh yeah, survivors guilt. Steve walked back into his room and put on his pajamas, he shivered, he really didn’t want to sleep, but he HAD to. Steve needed to let his mind work its way through the guilt, whether Steve kept waking up crying or not.


	16. The Next Mission isn't Simple.

Beep. Beep. Beep.  
“What the Fuck?!” Clint’s head popped out of his nest of blankets that he had bundled himself in the night before. He fought his way towards the phone. He didn’t have an alarm set, so it must have been important to bother him. He got to his phone and looked at the call ID. Restricted. Must be top secret, he secured his side of the conversation knowing that the other side would be secure. “Barton.”  
“Hello Agent Barton.” Clint perked up, he knew the voice.  
“How can I help you Director Fury?”  
“Well, I wanted to know how this mission was going.” Clint frowned, Fury never asked about missions, especially if the mission is still on going. He usually got any information from handlers.  
“It’s going as well as I expected, sir.” Fury laughed.  
“Ah, well, it’s going much better than I expected. I thought you would have given up Barton, but you’re a stubborn son of a bitch. I lost 20 bucks to Coulson because you lasted so long.” Clint smirked, Fury still didn’t learn that betting against Coulson was a bad idea.   
“Not to ignore your money loss, but sir, can I ask why you called me?” Clint had battled his blankets till he had his back against the headboard.  
“Yes, well, Agent Barton, I know I’ve given you back to back non-stop missions, but I need you somewhere else. The captain has healed enough over the last 2 months, not that you do your daily journals at a responsible time, but he seems to be making progress. I think Captain Rogers can function in New York without a nanny.” Clint frowned, he knew Steve was better, but not 100%, but Steve might not even make 100% anytime soon.   
“How much time do I have Director?” Clint had gone into Agent Mode and would pout about another mission later.  
“I’ll have Agent Coulson come and brief you as I can’t say anything on the phone. There are ears everywhere, so Coulson should be showing about sometime today or early tomorrow.”  
“Alright anything else Director?”  
“Nothing else Agent, Good Luck.” Fury ended the call and Clint sat listening to the building settling. Clint threw his phone towards the end of his bed, before going to the shower, he should at least try to look presentable for Phil. Clint tried to keep himself trim and neat, but sometimes in the mess of life he forgot. Until his face started to itch, then he shaved it, considering he couldn’t take it. Steve never mentioned his appearance so Clint all but ignored mirrors. He finally looked at a mirror, and flinched, he looked like crap, granted he felt like crap, but a less sleepy pile of crap. He was still exhausted, but he would be able to function without any major mistakes. He shaved and then hopped into the shower before coming out to take care of his pale skin and black circles. He grumbled, he looked better with stubble, but nothing makeup couldn’t fix. Another perk of the circus he mused before walking into his bedroom and got a long sleeve polo and khakis. Darcy slipped makeup into his room before she left, he let her do it and now it was coming in handy, the trapeze artists always asked him to help, and now he was pretty good at makeup. He put the makeup on and got dressed, Clint looked in the mirror, and he looked. Normal. No nightmares, low stress job. Nothing Clint could ever have, his past wouldn’t allow it, he would always have a job in the shadows. He only did this for Phil, he would have given up without Phil in that alley all those years ago, so he deserved some respect. Steve knew how Clint had been struggling, but he didn’t say anything, knowing how it felt to have people point out weaknesses. He finished his morning rituals and then went and grabbed his phone, 6:03. Dammit Fury! Wait… It was Monday? His phone must be acting up again, like the last time when Natasha shocked him with the phone in his pocket, it wouldn’t stop auto correcting for weeks.   
Clint walked into the kitchen, seeing what he could eat. It didn’t smell like Steve had cooked, looked like Clint was today. He started the coffee pot, coffee was always good when Phil was coming around. Knowing Phil, he would show up earlier than expected, Clint smiled and started an egg bake, quick, easy, and delicious. He slipped the finished mixture into the oven and washed the dishes he had made. Clint started to clean around the kitchen, okay so maybe he was trying to impress Phil but, why shouldn’t he? Phil was his boss, but he was also Clint’s family. Clint knew the apartment wasn’t that messy, but it could always use a good vacuuming and pick up.  
*************  
Steve needed an escape, so he had gone on a run. He stayed in the apartment all of Sunday. Clark had never come out of his room and Steve let him be. He knew Clark was exhausted so he had decided to read all day. He didn’t want to do that today. He had woken up at 4:00am, not willing to be in bed anymore. He wanted to work out hard, but he had to make sure it was dark out. Clint had warned him about mutants and other issues people could have if they saw Steve running. He ran hard before anyone was awake, and cooled down when everyone started moving around. Steve knew he shouldn’t have left the apartment without telling Clark, but he needed time to himself and didn’t want to bother Clark.   
Steve had seen how much he had needed the sleep. The last few weeks Clark had been able to do anything with Steve. Clark’s only assistance was coffee, Steve knew sleep wasn’t something Clark wanted so he had left it alone. Steve that Clark wouldn’t be to tell him what was wrong anyway. Steve sighed it was time for him to cool down, it was a Monday morning. So, he slowed to a jog and decided to get a coffee and people watch. He wasn’t ready to go back yet, he wanted to watch the world pass by. He walked into his usual coffee shop, buying a coffee and pastry ignoring the looks from the few other patrons in the shop, he was used to it by now. He paid and went to sit at the table closest to the window, he watched a mom with a stroller, businessmen and women, teenagers going to school. He like to watched what he helped saved once upon a time. So, he was a little nostalgic, but he was allowed to be every once in a while, he had earned it.   
****************  
Clint was in his study when he heard the slight rustling in the kitchen. He smirked and checked his watch, 8 hours early, impressive. He walked towards the kitchen, the egg bake should be ready at any moment. He walked to the cupboard and grabbed a mug, and poured a cup of black coffee. “You know you could just knock on the door like a normal person Phil.” Clint turned and handed the mug to Phil who had perched onto a stool at the kitchen island.   
“Some people I will do that for, you don’t deserve a warning considering how often you sneak into rooms with new recruits.” Clint smirked, many a recruit quit after Clint’s shenanigans, they were weak. Clint turned and peeked at the oven, ‘should be ready in 20 minutes,’ before grabbing a glass of hot water for tea, Phil raised an eyebrow.  
“It grew on me Phil, Steve is persuasive with some things.” Phil’s lip twitched, of course he was amused. He took a sip of coffee and put on his “Agent Face”.   
“Where is Captain Rogers, Agent Barton?”  
“He’s out on a run.” Phil’s eyes widened slightly.  
“You leave him by himself? Aren’t you afraid he’ll be recognized or he’ll run?”  
“I put my trust in Steve and he in I, I hope that he uses the same respect and honesty I try to give him.” Phil nodded, he wanted to keep the meeting going.  
“Well, since we’re alone, we can talk about your next mission.”  
“Yes sir,” Phil opened his briefcase and slid a manila folder towards Clint, waiting for him to open it before continuing. Clint grabbed it, and started to flick thru the contents.   
“Agent, you will be moved onto Project Pegasus. We need you to watch some very important technology that will change the world.” Clint saw a colored photo and paused in his absent page turning. The Tesseract. Clint’s jaw dropped, why him?  
Phil, almost reading Clint’s mind, “You’re one of our most trusted agents, that’s why you’ll be watching Doctor Selvig and his colleagues as they work on the tesseract.” Clint leaned against the counter behind him.  
“How long do I have here?”  
“Depending on paperwork and clean up, about a week, week and a half at the most. “Clint frowned, he had no time. The oven dinged. See? Case in point. He grabbed the egg bake out of the oven, oven mitts secure, he put it on the stone counter, letting it cool slightly.   
“Do I have to go Agent Coulson?”  
“Yes Agent Barton, Director Fury wants you there. I can’t override this order, I’ve already tried. Agent Romanov was moved from Stark’s household to go undercover with the Russian mafia. SO you will be on a single agent mission. You’ll be stationed on base, and you’ll be in charge of 9 agents of your choice. You only need your SHIELD gear, so any gear left at base has been moved.” Clint sighed, the world was against him as usual.   
“But, I’ll still be on a solo mission?”  
“No one can know what you’re doing Agent, you know the drill.”  
Clint nodded and grabbed 2 plates of food, knowing Phil would eat it if he was hungry. Clint started eating, it was good, he silently thanked Natasha for teaching him to cook.  
“What about Steve?”  
“What about Captain Rogers?  
“What’s going to happen to him?”  
“Well, when you’re gone he will be transported to New York and given an apartment, we aren’t going to recruit him yet, just help him adjust. No, you may not contact him agent, I know that look. You know the drill, no ties to past mission.  
“What if I see him on base sir?”  
“Ignore, if possible. We will cross that bridge when we get there agent.” Clint frowned, ignoring would be the only way to stop Steve from feeling betrayed. Knowing that Clark was actually Clint, would not turn out that well.  
“Alright sir, anything else?” Phil stood up and straightened his suit, before slipping the manila folder back into the briefcase.  
“Other that reminding you to pack anything you want to keep in storage no, I do not, Goodbye Agent Barton.”  
“Good night Ph-Agent Coulson.” Phil left, not knowing the pain he left to Clint. Clint felt horrible, he was going to have to tell Steve he was leaving. Clint looked around, this was about the best family life he would ever get to have.

**Author's Note:**

> I will try and post at least once every two weeks maybe more, depends on the amount of free time I have.... comments are awesome and amazingly appreciated.


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